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Dhammapada. English
The Dhammapada
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THE
SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST
[10]
VOLUME X
Part I. The Dhammapada
Part II. The Sutta-Nipata
Uonlron
HENRY FROWDE
OXPOED UNIVEESITY PBESS WAREHOUSE
7 PATERNOSTER ROW
THE
SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST
TRANSLATED
BY VARIOUS ORIENTAL SCHOLARS
AND EDITED BY
F. MAX MULLER
VOLUME X
PART I
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
l8bl
\_All righh reserved'\
THE DHAMMAPADA
A COLLECTION OF VERSES
BEING ONE OF THE CANONICAL BOOKS OF THE
BUDDHISTS
TRANSLATED FROM PALI
BY
/
F. MAX MULLER
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
i88i
[All rights reserved]
CONTENTS.
Introduction to the Dhammapada
ix-lv
DHAMMAPADA.
Chapter 1.
The Twin-verses ...... :^
»>
2.
On Earnestness .
9
})
3.
Thought
12
>>
4.
Flowers
i6
>}
5.
The Fool .
20
)}
6.
The Wise Man (Paw^ita)
• 23
>>
7.
The Venerable (Arhat)
• 27
>5
8.
The Thousands .
• 31
»
9.
Evil ....
• 34
»
10.
Punishment .
. 36
)J
11.
Old Age
. 41
5>
12.
Self ....
45
>>
13.
The World .
• 47
»
14.
The Buddha (the Awakened)
• 49
»
15.
Happiness .
• 53
»
16.
Pleasure
56
»
17.
Anger
58
J>
18.
Impurity ....
60
»
19.
The Just .
64
>>
20.
The Way ....
67
»>
21.
Miscellaneous
70
5>
22.
The Downward Course
74
>J
23.
The Elephant
77
»
24.
Thirst ....
80
>>
25.
The Bhikshu (Mendicant) .
85
>>
[ndex
26.
The Brahmawa (Arhat) .
89
97
Transliteration of Oriental Alphabets adopted for the
Translations of the Sacred Books of the East (see the
end of this volume) ^^^
p EI IT c !]'::: ■ ^•
RtC.JUN IBb.
THEOLOGIC-.
INTRODUCTION
TO
THE DHAMMAPADA.
The Dhammapada, a Canonical Book.
The Dhammapada forms part of the Pah Buddhist canon,
though its exact place varies according to different authori-
ties, and we have not as yet a sufficient number of complete
MSS. of the Tipi/aka to help us to decide the question \
Those who divide that canon into three Pi/akas or
baskets, the Vinaya-pi^"aka, Sutta-pi/aka, and Abhidham-
ma-pi/aka, assign the Dhammapada to the Sutta-pi/aka.
That Pi/aka consists of five Nikayas : the Digha-nikaya,
the Ma^^//ima-nikaya, the Sa;«yutta-nikaya, the Anguttara-
nikaya, and the Khuddaka-nikaya. The fifth, or Khuddaka-
nikaya, comprehends the following works : i. Khuddaka-
pa//^a; 3. DHAMMAPADA; 3. Udana ; 4. Itivuttaka; 5. Sutta-
nipata ; 6. Vimanavatthu ; 7. Petavatthu ; 8. Theragatha ;
9.Therigatha; 10. 6^ataka ; ii.Niddesa; 12. Pa/isambhida;
13. Apadana; 14. Buddhavawsa ; 15. /fariya-pi/aka.
According to another division ^, however, the whole Bud-
dhist canon consists of five Nikayas : the Digha-nikaya, the
Ma^^^ima-nikaya, the Sa;;^yutta-nikayaj the Aiiguttara-
nikaya, and the fifth, the Khuddaka-nikaya, which Khud-
daka-nikaya is then made to comprehend the whole of
the Vinaya (discipline) and Abhidhamma (metaphysics),
together with the fifteen books beginning with the Khud-
daka-pa//^a.
The order of these fifteen books varies, and even, as
it would seem, their number. The Dighabha;/aka school
1 See Peer, Journal Asiatique, 1871, p. 263. There is now at least one com-
plete MS. of the Tipi^aka, the Phayre MS., at the India Office, and Professor
Forchhammer has just published a most useful List of Pdli MSS., collected in
Burma, the largest collection hitherto known.
2 See Childers, s. v. Nikaya, and extracts from Buddhaghosa's comment.ary
on the Brahmag-ala-sutta.
DHAMMAPADA.
admits twelve books only, and assigns them all to the Abhi-
dhamma, while the Ma^^/nmabha;/akas admit fifteen books,
and assign them to the Sutta-pi/aka. The order of the
fifteen books is: i. 6^ataka [lo] ; 2. Mahaniddesa [n];
3. ATullaniddesa [n]; 4- Pa/isambhidamagga [12] ; 5. Sutta-
nipata [5] ; 6. DHAMMAPADA [2] ; 7. Udana [3] ; 8. Iti-
vuttaka [4] ; 9. Vimanavatthu [6] ; 10. Petavatthu [7] ;
II. Theragatha [8]; 12. Therigatha [9]; 13. Kaviya.-
pi/aka [15] ; 14. Apadana [13] ; 15. Buddhava;«sa [14] \
The Khuddaka-pa///a is left out in the second list, and
the number is brought to fifteen by dividing Niddesa into
Maha-niddesa and iTulla-niddesa.
There is a commentary on the Dhammapada in Pali,
and supposed to be written by Buddhaghosa ^, in the first
half of the fifth century A.D. In explaining the verses of the
Dhammapada, the commentator gives for every or nearly
every verse a parable to illustrate its meaning, which is
likewise believed to have been uttered by Buddha in his
intercourse with his disciples, or in preaching to the multi-
tudes that came to hear him.
Date of the Dhammapada.
The only means of fixing the date of the Dhammapada
is trying to ascertain the date of the Buddhist canon
of which it forms a part, or the date of Buddhaghosa,
who wrote a commentary on it. This, however, is by no
means easy, and the evidence on which we have to rely is
such that we must not be surprised if those who are
accustomed to test historical and chronological evidence
* The figures within brackets refer to the other list of books in the Khud-
daka-nikaya. See also p. xxviii.
* M. Leon Feer in the Journal Asiatique, 1871, p. 266, mentions another com-
mentary of a more philosophical character, equally ascribed to Buddhaghosa,
and having the title Vivara Bra Dhammapada, i. e. L'auguste Dhammapada
devoile. Professor Forchhammer in his 'List of Manuscripts,' 1879-80, men-
tions the following works in connection with the Dhammapada : Dhammapada-
Nissayo ; Dh. P. A^Aakatha by Buddhaghosa ; Dh. P. Attha.ka.tha. Nissayo,
3 vols., containing a complete translation of the commentary ; Dh. P. Yattku.
Of printed books he quotes : Kayanupassanakyam, a work based on the
Garavaggo, Mandalay, 1876 (390 pages), and Dhammapada-desanakyam,
printed in ' British Burma News.'
INTRODUCTION. xi
in Greece and Rome, decline to be convinced by it. As
a general rule, I quite agree that we cannot be too sceptical
in assigning a date to ancient books, particularly if we
intend to use them as documents for tracing the history
of human thought. To the initiated, I mean to those who
have themselves worked in the mines of ancient Oriental
literature, such extreme scepticism may often seem un-
scientific and uncalled for. They are more or less aware
of hundreds of arguments, each by itself, it may be, of
small weight, but all combined proving irresistible. They
are conscious, too, of having been constantly on the look
out for danger, and, as all has gone on smoothly, they feel
sure that, in the main, they are on the right road. Still it is
always useful to be as incredulous as possible, particularly
against oneself, and to have before our eyes critics who will
not yield one inch beyond what they are forced to yield by
the strongest pressure of facts.
The age of our MSS. of the canonical books, either in
Pdli or Sanskrit, is of no help to us. All Indian MSS. are
comparatively modern, and one who has probably handled
more Indian MSS. than anybody else, Mr. A. Burnell,
has lately expressed his conviction that 'no MS. written
one thousand years ago is now existent in India, and that
it is almost impossible to find one written five hundred
years ago, for most MSS. which claim to be of that date
are merely copies of old MSS. the dates of which are
repeated by the copyists ^.'
Nor is the language, whether Sanskrit or Pali, a safe
guide for fixing dates. Both languages continue to be
written to our own time, and though there are some
characteristic marks to distinguish more modern from more
ancient Buddhist Sanskrit and Pali, this branch of critical
scholarship requires to be cultivated far more extensively
and accurately before true scholars would venture to fix the
date of a Sanskrit or Pali text on the strength of linguistic
evidence alone ^.
1 Indian Antiquary, 1880, p. 233. _
« See some important remarks on this subject in Fausboll's Introduction to
Sutta-nipata, p. xi.
XU DHAMMAPADA.
The Buddhists themselves have no difficulty in assigning
a date to their sacred canon. They are told in that canon
itself that it was settled at the First Council, or immediately
after the death of Buddha, and they believe that it was
afterwards handed down by means of oral tradition, or
actually written down in books by order of Kaj-yapa, the
president of the First Council ^ Buddhaghosa, a learned
and in some respects a critical scholar, living in the be-
ginning of the fifth century A.D., asserts that the canon
which he had before him, was the same as that fixed by
the First Council ^.
Several European students have adopted the same
opinion, and, so far as I know, no argument has yet been
advanced showing the impossibility of the native view,
that some collection of Buddha's doctrines was made im-
mediately after his death at Ra^agaha, and that it was
finally settled at what is called the Second Council, or the
Council of Vesali. But what is not impossible is not there-
fore true, nor can anything be gained by appealing to later
witnesses, such as, for instance, Hiouen Thsang, who tra-
velled through India in the seventh century, and wrote
down anything that he could learn, little concerned whether
one statement tallied with the other or not ^. He says that
the Tipi/aka was written down on palm leaves by Kaj-yapa
at the end of the First Council. But what can be the weight
of such a witness, living more than a thousand years after
the event, compared with that, for instance, of the Maha-
vawsa, which dates from the fifth century of our era, and
^ Bigandet, Life of Gaudama (Rangoon, 1866), p. 350 ; but also p. 120 note.
* See Childers, s. v. Tipi/aka. There is a curious passage in Buddhaghosa's
account of the P'irst Council. ' Now one may ask,' he says, ' Is there or is there
not in this first Parag-ika anything to be taken away or added ? ' I reply, There
is nothing in the words of the Blessed Buddha that can be taken away, for the
Buddhas speak not even a single syllable in vain, yet in the words of disciples
and devatas there are things which may be omitted, and these the elders who
made the recension, did omit. On the other hand, additions are everywhere
necessary, and accordingly, whenever it was necessary to add anything, they
added it. If it be asked. What are the additions referred to ? I reply. Only
sentences necessary to connect the text, as ' at that time,' ' again at that time,'
' and so forth.'
^ Pelerins Bouddhistes, vol. i. p. 15S.
INTRODUCTION. xiii
tells us in the account of Mahinda's missionary journey
to Ceylon (241/318), that the son of Asoka had to spend
three years in learning the Tipi/'aka by heart from the
mouth of a teacher ^ ? No mention is then made of any
books or MSS., when it would have been most natural to
do so 2. At a later time, during the reign of King Va//aga-
mani^ (88-76 B.C.), the same chronicle, the Mahava;;zsa, tells
us that ' the profoundly wise priests had theretofore orally
(mukhapa//^ena) perpetuated the Pali of the Pi/akattaya
and its A^*///akatha (commentary), but that at this period the
priests, foreseeing the perdition of the people assembled,
and in order that the religion might endure for ages, re-
corded the same in books (potthakesu likhapayuw)''.'
No one has yet questioned the dates of the Dipava;;^sa,
about 400 A.D., or of the first part of the Mah^vamsa.,
between 459-477 a. d., and though no doubt there is an
interval of nearly 600 years between the composition of
the Mahavawsa and the recorded writing down of the
Buddhist canon under Va//agamani, yet we must remember
that the Ceylonese chronicles were confessedly founded on
an older A/^//akatha preserved in the monasteries of the
island, and representing an unbroken line of local tradition.
My own argument therefore, so long as the question was
only whether we could assign a pre-Christian date to the
Pali Buddhist canon, has always been this. We have
the commentaries on the Pali canon translated from Sin-
halese into Pali, or actually composed, it may be, by
Buddhaghosa. Buddhaghosa confessedly consulted various
» Mahava7wsa, p. 37 ; DipavawsaVII, 28-31 ; Buddhaghosha's Parables, p.xviii.
^ Bigandet, Life of Gaudama, p. 351.
s Dr. E. Muller (Indian Antiquary, Nov. 1880, p. 270) has discovered inscrip-
tions in Ceylon, belonging to Devanapiya Maharaja Gami;ii Tissa, whom he
identifies with Va^^agamani.
* The same account is given in the Dipavawzsa XX, 20, and in the Sara-
sangraha, as quoted by Spence Hardy, Legends, p. 192. As throwing light
on the completeness of the Buddhist canon at the time of King Va//agamani.
it should be mentioned that, according to the commentary on theMabavamsa
(Tumour, p. liii), the sect of the Dhammaru^ikas established itself at the
Abhayavihara, which had been constructed by Va^/agamani, and that one of
the grounds of their secession was their refusing to acknowledge the Panvara
(thus I read instead of Pariwana) as part of the Vinaya-pi/aka. Accordmg to
the Dipava7Ksa (VII, 42) Mahinda knew the Parivara.
XIV DHAMMAPADA.
MSS., and gives various readings, just as any modern
scholar might do. This was in the beginning of the fifth
century A.U., and there is nothing improbable, though I
would say no more, in supposing that some of the MSS.,
consulted by Buddhaghosa, dated from the first century
B.C., when Va//agamani ordered the sacred canon to be
reduced to writing.
There is one other event with reference to the existence
of the sacred canon in Ceylon, recorded in the Mahava;;«sa,
between the time of Buddhaghosa and Va//agamani, viz.
the translation of the Suttas from Pali into the language of
Ceylon, during the reign of Buddhadasa, 339-368 A. D.
If MSS. of that ancient translation still existed, they would,
no doubt, be very useful for determining the exact state
of the Pali originals at that time ^. But even without them
there seems no reason to doubt that Buddhaghosa had
before him old MSS. of the Pali canon, and that these
were in the main the same as those written down at the
time of Va//agamani.
Buddhaghosa's Age.
The whole of this argument, however, rested on the
supposition that Buddhaghosa's date in the beginning of
the fifth century a. d. was beyond the reach of reasonable
doubt. ' His age,' I had ventured to say in the Preface
to Buddhaghosha's Parables (1870), 'can be fixed with
greater accuracy than most dates in the literary history
of India.' But soon after, one of our most celebrated Pali
scholars, the great Russian traveller. Professor Joh. Minayefif,
expressed in the Melanges Asiatiques (13/25 April, 1871)
the gravest doubts as to Buddhaghosa's age, and thus
threw the whole Buddhist chronology, so far as it had
then been accepted by all, or nearly all scholars, back into
chaos. He gave as his chief reason that Buddhaghosa was
not, as I supposed, the contemporary of Mahanama, the
^ A note is added, stating that several portions of the other two divi-
sions also of the Pi/akattaya were translated into the Sinhalese language, and
that these alone are consulted by the priests, who are unacquainted with Pali,
On the other hand, it is stated that the Sinhalese text of the A^Aakatha exists
no longer. See Spence Hardy, Legends, p. xxv, and p. 69.
INTRODUCTION. XV
author of the Mahava;«sa, but of another Mahanama, the
king of Ceylon.
Professor MinayefF is undoubtedly right in this, but I am
not aware that I, or anybody else, had ever questioned so
palpable a fact. There are two Mahanamas ; one, the king
who reigned from 410-433 A. D.; the other, the supposed
author of the Mahavawsa, the uncle and protector of King
Dhatusena, 459-477. ' Dhatusena,' I had written, ' was the
nephew of the historian Mahanama, and owed the throne
to the protection of his uncle. Dhatusena was in fact the
restorer of a national dynasty, and after having defeated
the foreign usurpers (the Damilo dynasty) " he restored the
religion which had been set aside by the foreigners'" (Mahav.
p. 356). Among his many pious acts it is particularly
mentioned that he gave a thousand, and ordered the Dipa-
va;«sa to be promulgated. As Mahanama was the uncle
of Dhatusena, who reigned from 459-477, he may be con-
sidered as a trustworthy witness with regard to events that
occurred between 410 and 432. Now the literary activity of
Buddhaghosa in Ceylon falls in that period \'
These facts being admitted, it is surely not too great
a stretch of probability to suppose, as I did, that a man
whose nephew was king in 459-477, might have been
alive in 410-433, that is to say, might have been a con-
temporary of Buddhaghosa. I did not commit myself to
any further theories. The question whether Mahanama,
the uncle of Dhatusena, was really the author of the Maha-
va;;^sa, the question whether he wrote the second half of
the 37th chapter of that work, or broke off his chronicle in
the middle of that chapter, I did not discuss, having no
new materials to bring forward beyond those on which
Tumour and those who followed him had founded their
conclusions, and which I had discussed in my History of
Sanskrit Literature (1859), p. 2,6y. All I said was, ' It is
difficult to determine whether the 38th as well as the (whole
of the) 37th chapter came from the pen of Mahanama, for
1 ' Ungefahr 50 Jahre alter als Mahanama ist Buddhaghosha,' see Wester*
gaard, tjber Buddha's Todesjahr, p. 99.
XVI DHAMMAPADA.
the Mahavawsa was afterwards continued by different
writers, even to the middle of the last century. But,
taking into account all the circumstances of the case, it is
most probable that Mahanama carried on the history to
his own time, to the death of Dhatusena, 477 A.D.'
What I meant by 'all the circumstances of the case'
might easily be understood by any one who had read Tur-
nour's Preface to the Mahava;«sa. Turnour himself thought
at first that Mahinama's share in the Mahavaw^sa ended
with the year 301 A.D., and that the rest of the work, called
the Sulu Wans6, was composed by subsequent writers ^
Dharmakirti is mentioned by name as having continued
the work to the reign of Prakrama Bahu (a.d. 1266). But
Turnour afterwards changed his mind ^. Considering that
the account of Mahasena's reign, the first of the Seven
Kings, terminates in the middle of a chapter, at verse 48,
while the whole chapter is called the Sattara^iko, ' the
chapter of the Seven Kings,' he naturally supposed that
the whole of that chapter, extending to the end of the reign
of his nephew Dhatusena, might be the work of Mahanama,
unless there were any strong proofs to the contrary. Such
proofs, beyond the tradition of writers of the MSS., have
not, as yet, been adduced ^.
But even if it could be proved that Mahinama's own pen
did not go beyond the 48th verse of the 37th chapter, the
historical trustworthiness of the concluding portion of that
chapter, containing the account of Buddhaghosa's literary
activity, nay, even of the 38th chapter, would be little
affected thereby. We know that both the Mahava;«sa
and the somewhat earlier Dipava;;/sa were founded on the
Sinhalese A///zakathis, the commentaries and chronicles
preserved in the Mahivihara at Anuradhapura. We also
know that that Vihara was demolished by Mahasena, and
deserted by nearly all its inmates for the space of nine
years (p. 235), and again for the space of nine months
* Introduction, p. ii. The ^ulavawzsa is mentioned with the Mahavawsa, both
as the works of Mahanama, by Professor Forchhammer in his List of Pali MSS.
* Introduction, p. xci.
' See Rhys Davids, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1875, p. 196.
INTRODUCTION. xvii
(p. 237). We can well understand therefore why the older
history, the Dipavawsa, should end with the death of Maha-
sena (died 302 A.D.), and why in the Mahavamsa too there
should have been a break at that date. But we must not
forget that, during Mahanama's life, the Mahavihara at
Anuradhapura was restored, that some kind of chronicle,
called the Dipavawsa, whether it be a general name of any
' chronicle of the island,' or of our Dipavawsa, or, it may be,
even of our Mahava;«sa, was ordered to be published or pro-
mulgated (dipetum) under Dhatusena, the nephew and protege
of Mahanama. Therefore, even if we do not insist on the
personal authorship of Mahanama, we may certainly main-
tain that historical entries had been made in the chronicles
of Anuradhapura during Dhatusena's reign, and probably
under the personal auspices of Mahanama, so that if we
find afterwards, in the second half of the 37th chapter of
his Mahavawsa, an account of events which had happened
between the destruction of the Mahavihara and the reign
of Dhatusena, and among them an account of so important
an event as the arrival of Buddhaghosa from Magadha and
his translation of the Sinhalese A////akatha into the lan-
guage of Magadha, we may well suppose that they rest
on the authority of native chronicles, written not long after
the events, and that therefore, ' under all the circumstances
of the case,' the age of Buddhaghosa can be fixed with
greater accuracy than most dates in the literary history
of India.
There is one difficulty still remaining with regard to the
date of the historian Mahanama which might have per-
plexed Tumour's mind, and has certainly proved a stumbling-
block to myself. Tumour thought that the author of the
commentary on the Mahavawsa, the Vawsatthappakasini,
was the same as the author of the Mahavawsa, viz. Maha-
nama. The date of that commentary, however, as we know
now, must be fixed much later, for it .speaks of a schism
which took place in the year 601 A. D., during the rcign
of Agrabodhi (also called Dhatapatisso). Tumour^ looked
» Introduction, p. liii.
[10] b
XVlll DHAMMAPADA.
upon that passage as a later interpolation, because he
thought the evidence for the identity of the author and
the commentator of the Mahavawsa too strong to be set
aside. He trusted chiefly to a passage in the commentary,
and if that passage had been correctly rendered, the con-
clusion which he drew from it could hardly be resisted.
We read in the Mahavawsa (p. 254) :
' Certain members of the Moriyan dynasty, dreading the
power of the (usurper) Subho, the balattho, had settled in
various parts of the country, concealing themselves. Among
them there was a certain landed proprietor Dhatusena, who
had established himself at Nandivapi. His son named
Dhita, who lived at the village Ambiliyago, had two sons,
Dhatusena and Silatissabodhi, of unexceptional descent.
Their mother's brother(Mahanama), devoted to the
cause of religion, continued to reside (at Anura-
dhapura) in his sacerdotal character, at the edifice
built by the minister Dighasandana. The youth
Dhatusena became a priest in his fraternity, and on a certain
day, while he was chaunting at the foot of a tree, a shower
of rain fell, and a Naga, seeing him there, encircled him in
his folds, and covered him and his book with his hood. . . .
Causing an image of Maha Mahinda to be made, and con-
veying it to the edifice (Ambamalaka) in which the thera's
body had been burnt, in order that he might celebrate
a great festival there, and that he might also promul-
gate the contents of the Dipavawsa, distributing
a thousand pieces, he caused it to be read aloud ^.'
If we compare with this extract from the Mahava;;/sa
a passage from the commentary as translated by Turnour,
we can well understand how he arrived at the conclusion
that it was written by the same person who wrote the
Mahavaw^sa.
Turnour translates (p. liv) :
' Upon these data by me, the thera, who had, with due
* Mr. Turnour added a note in which he states that Dipavawsa is here meant
for Mahavarasa, but whether brought down to this period, or only to the end of
the reign of Mahasena, to which alone the T'ika extends, there is no means of
ascertaining (p. 257).
INTRODUCTION. xix
solemnity, been invested with the dignified title of Maha-
nama, resident at the parive/^a founded by the
minister Dighasandana, endowed with the capacity
requisite to record the narrative comprised in the Maha-
va/«sa, in due order, rejecting only the dialect in which
the Singhalese A////akatha are written, but retaining their
import and following their arrangement, the history, entitled
the Palapad6ruva;;/sa (Padyapadanuva7;/sa), is compiled.
As even in times when the despotism of the ruler of the
land, and the horrors arising from the inclemencies of the
seasons, and when panics of epidemics and other visitations
prevailed, this work escaped all injury; and moreover, as
it serves to perpetuate the fame of the Buddhas, their
disciples, and the Pache Buddhas of old, it is also worthy
of bearing the title of Vawsatthappakasini.'
As the evidence of these two passages in support of the
identity of the author and the commentator of the Maha-
va;//sa seemed to me very startling, I requested Mr. Rhys
Davids to copy for me the passage of the commentary.
The passage runs as follows :
Ya ettavata mahavaw/satthanusarakusalena Dighasanda-
senapatina karapita-mahaparive/^avasina Mahanamo ti ga-
ruhi gahitanamadheyyena therez/a pubba-Sihala-bhasitaya
Sihala///^akathaya bhasantara;« eva va^iya atthasaram
eva gahetva tantinayanurupena katassa imassa Padyapada-
nuva;;^sassa atthava/zwana maya tam eva sannissitena
araddha, padesissariya- dubbu///^ibhaya - rogabhayadi - vivi-
dha-antaraya-yuttakale pi anantarayena ni^///anam upagata,
sa buddha-buddhasavaka-pa/^/^ekabuddhadina;« porawana;;/
k\kka.i;i pubbavawsatthappakasanato aysnu Vawsatthappa-
kasini nama ti dharetabba. . . . Padyapadanuva;«sa-
vawwana Vawsatthappakasini ni////ita.
Mr. Rhys Davids translates this :
' The commentary on this Padyapadanuvawja, which (latter
work) was made (in the same order and arrangement, and re-
taining the sense, but rejecting the dialect, of the Sinhalese
commentary formerly expressed in the Sinhalese tongue)
by the elder who bore the name of Mahanama, which he had
b 2
XX DHAMMAPADA.
received from the venerable, who resided at the Mahapari-
veua built by the minister Dighasanda, and who was well
able to conform to the sense of the Mahavawsa — (this com-
mentary) which was undertaken by me out of devotion to
that (history), and which (though thus undertaken) at a time
full of danger of various kinds — such as the danger from
disease, and the danger from drought, and the danger
from the government of the province — has been safely
brought to a conclusion — this (commentary), since it makes
known the meaning of the history of old, the mission of
the ancients, of the Buddhas, of their disciples, and of the
Pa^X'eka Buddhas, should bear the name Va#/satthappa-
kasini. . . .
' End of the Va;//satthappakasini, the commentary on
the Padyapadanuvawsa.'
This shows clearly that Turnour made a mistake in trans-
lating this exceedingly involved, yet perfectly intelligible,
passage, and that so far from proving that the author of
the commentary was the same person as the author of the
text^, it proves the very contrary. Nay, I feel bound to
add, that we might now argue that as the commentator
must have lived later than 60 1 a. D., the fact that he too
breaks oft" at verse 48 of chapter ^y, seems to show that at
his time also the Mahavawsa did not extend as yet beyond
that verse. But even then, the fact that with the restoration
of the Mahavihara of Anuradhapuraan interest in historical
studies revived in Ceylon, would clearly show that we may
trust the date of Buddhaghosa, as fixed by the second part
of the 37th chapter of the Mahavawsa, at all events till
stronger evidence is brought forward against such a date.
Now I am not aware of any such evidence ^, On the
contrary, making allowance for a difference of some ten or
twenty years, all the evidence which we can gain from
other quarters tends to confirm the date of Buddha-
' Dr. Oldenberg informs me that the commentator quotes various readings
in the text of the Mahavamsa.
" The passage, quoted by Professor Minayeff from the Sasanava.'^sa, would
assign to Buddhaghosa the date of 930—543 = 387 a. d., which can easily be
reconciled with his accepted date. If he is called the contemporary of Siripala,
we ought to know who that Siripala is.
INTRODUCTION. xxi
ghosa^ I therefore feel no hesitation in here reprintinc,^
that story, as we find it in the Mahavawsa, not free from
legendary ingredients, it is true, yet resting, I believe, on
a sound foundation of historical fact.
' A Brahman youth, born in the neighbourhood of the
terrace of the great Bo-tree (in Magadha), accomplished in
the "vi^^a" (knowledge) and "sippa" (art), who had achieved
the knowledge of the three Vedas, and possessed great
aptitude in attaining acquirements ; indefatigable as a
schismatic disputant, and himself a schismatic wanderer
over 6"ambudipa, established himself, in the character of
a disputant, in a certain vihara 2, and was in the habit of
rehearsing, by night and by day with clasped hands, a
discourse which he had learned, perfect in all its com-
ponent parts, and sustained throughout in the same lofty
strain. A certain Mahathera, Revata, becoming acquainted
with him there, and (saying to himself), "This individual is
a person of profound knowledge, it will be worthy (of me)
to convert him ; " enquired, " Who is this who is braying
like an ass.^" The Brahman replied to him, "Thou canst
define, then, the meaning conveyed in the bray of asses."
On the Thera rejoining, " I can define it ; " he (the Brah-
man) exhibited the extent of the knowledge he possessed.
The Thera criticised each of his propositions, and pointed
out in what respect they were fallacious. He who had
been thus refuted, said, " Well, then, descend to thy own
creed ; " and he propounded to him a passage from the
Abhidhamma (of the Pi/akattaya). He (the Brahman)
could not divine the signification of that passage, and
enquired, "Whose manta is this.?" — "It is Buddha's manta."
On his exclaiming, " Impart it to me ; " the Thera replied,
"Enter the sacerdotal order." He who was desirous of
acquiring the knowledge of the Pi/akattaya, subsequently
coming to this conviction, " This is the sole road " (to sal-
vation), became a convert to that faith. As he was as
profound in his eloquence (ghosa) as Buddha himself, they
conferred on him the appellation of Budjhaghosa (the
1 See Bigandet, Life of Gaudama, pp. 351, .^8i.
^ On this vihara, its foundation and character, see OldeubL-rg, Viiaya, vol. i.
p. liii ; Hiouen-thsang, III, p. 487 seq.
XXll DHAMMAPADA.
voice of Buddha) ; and throughout the world he became as
renowned as Buddha. Having there (in 6^ambudipa) com-
posed an original work called iVanodaya (Rise of Know-
ledge), he, at the same time, wrote the chapter called
A///^asalini, on the Dhammasahgani (one of the commen-
taries on the Abhidhamma).
' Revata Thera then observing that he was desirous of
undertaking the compilation of a general commentary
on the Pi/akattaya, thus addressed him : " The text
alone of the Pi/akattaya has been preserved in this land,
the A////akatha are not extant here, nor is there any
version to be found of the schisms (vada) complete. The
Sinhalese A///^akatha are genuine. They were com-
posed in the Sinhalese language by the inspired and pro-
foundly wise Mahinda, who had previously consulted the
discourses (kathamagga) of Buddha, authenticated at the
three convocations, and the dissertations and arguments of
Sariputta and others, and they are extant among the Sin-
halese. Preparing for this, and studying the same, translate
them according to the rules of the grammar of the Maga-
dhas. It will be an act conducive to the welfare of the
whole world."
'Having been thus advised, this eminently wise personage
rejoicing therein, departed from thence, and visited this
island in the reign of this monarch (i.e. Mahanama, 410-
432). On reaching the Mahavihara (at Anuradhapura), he
entered the Mahapadhana hall, the most splendid of the
apartments in the vihara, and listened to the Sinhalese
A/Z/^akatha, and the Theravada, from the beginning to the
end, propounded by the Thera Sahghapala ; and became
thoroughly convinced that they conveyed the true meaning
of the doctrines of the Lord of Dhamma. Thereupon
paying reverential respect to the priesthood, he thus peti-
tioned : " I am desirous of translating the A////akatha ;
give me access to all your books." The priesthood, for the
purpose of testing his qualifications, gave only two gathas,
saying, " Hence prove thy qualification ; having satisfied
ourselves on this point, we will then let thee have all our
books.'" From these (taking these gatha for his text), and
INTRODUCTION. xxlil
consulting the Pi/akattaya, together with the A////akatha,
and condensing them into an abridged form, he composed
the work called the Visuddhimagga. Thereupon, having
assembled the priesthood, who had acquired a thorough
knowledge of the doctrines of Buddha, at the Bo-tree, he
commenced to read out the work he had composed. The
devatas, in order that they might make his (Buddhaghosa's)
gifts of wisdom celebrated among men, rendered that book
invisible. He, however, for a second and third time re-
composed it. When he was in the act of producing his
book for the third time, for the purpose of propounding it,
the devatas restored the other two copies also. The assem-
bled priests then read out the three books simultaneously.
In those three versions there was no variation whatever
from the orthodox Theravadas in passages, in words, or in
syllables. Thereupon, the priesthood rejoicing, again and
again fervently shouted forth, saying, " Most assuredly
this is Metteya (Buddha) himself," and made over to him
the books in which the Pi/akattaya were recorded, together
with the A///^akatha. Taking up his residence in the
secluded Ganthakara-vihara (at Anuradhapura), he trans-
lated, according to the grammatical rules of the Maga-
dhas, which is the root of all languages, the whole of the
Sinhalese A////akatha (into Pali), This proved an achieve-
ment of the utmost consequence to all beings, whatever
their language.
'All the Theras and A/^ariyas held this compilation in
the same estimation as the text (of the Pi/akattaya). There-
after, the objects of his mission having been fulfilled, he
returned to 6^ambudipa, to worship at the Bo-tree (at Uru-
velaya, or Uruvilva, in Magadha).'
Here ^ we have a simple account of Buddhaghosa ^ and
• Mahavawsa, p. 250, translated by Tumour.
2 The Burmese entertain the highest respect for Buddhaghosa. Bishop
Bigandet, in his Life or Legend of Gaudama (Rangoon, 1S66), writes: 'It is
perhaps as well to mention here an epoch which has been, at all times, famous
in the history of Budhism in Burma. I allude to the voyage which a Religious
of Thaton, named Budhagosa, made to Ceylon, in the year of religion 943 = 400
A D The object of this voyage was to procure a copy of the scriptures. He
succeeded in his undertaking. He made use of the Burmese, or rather Talaing
XXIV DPIAMMAPADA.
his literary labours written by a man, himself a priest,
and who may well have known Buddhaghosa during his
stay in Ceylon. It is true that the statement of his writing
the same book three times over without a single various
reading, partakes a little of the miraculous ; but we find
similar legends mixed up with accounts of translations
of other sacred books, and we cannot contend that writers
who believed in such legends are therefore altogether
unworthy to be believed as historical witnesses.
But although the date which we can assign to Buddha-
ghosa's translation of the commentaries on the Pali Tipi-
/aka proves the existence of that canon, not only for the
beginning of the fifth century of our era, but likewise, though
it may be, with less stringency, for the first century before
our era, the time of Va//agamani, the question whether Bud-
dhaghosa was merely a compiler and translator of old com-
mentaries and more particularly of the commentaries brought
to Ceylon by Mahinda (241 B.C.), or whether he added any-
thing of his own ^, requires to be more carefully examined.
The Buddhists themselves have no difficulty on that point.
They consider the A///zakathas or commentaries as old as
the canon itself. To us, such a supposition seems impro-
bable, yet it has never been proved to be impossible. The
Mahavawsa tells us that Mahinda, the son of Asoka, who
had become a priest, learnt the whole of the Buddhist
canon, as it then was, in three years (p. SJ}^; and that
at the end of the Third Council he was despatched to
Ceylon, in order to establish there the religion of Buddha
(p. 71). The king of Ceylon, Devanampiya Tissa, was
converted, and Buddhism soon became the dominant
characters, in transcribing the manuscripts, which were written with the cha-
racters of Magatha. The Burmans lay much stress upon that voyage, and
always carefully note down the year it took place. In fact, it is to Budhagosa
that the people living on the shores of the Gulf of Martaban owe the pos-
ses^ion of the Budhist scriptures. From Thaton, the collection made by Budha-
gosa was transferred to Pagan, six hundred and fifty years after it had been
imported from Ceylon.' See ibid. p. 392.
* He had written the iVanodaya, and the A^/Aasalini, a commentary on the
D:inmma-sanga«i, before he went to Ceylon. Cf. Mahavawsa, p. 251.
* He learnt the five Nikayas, and the seven sections (of the Abhidhamma) ;
the two Vibhangas of the Vinaya, the Purivara and the Khandhaka. See
Dipavawsa VH, 42.
INTRODUCTION. XXV
religion of the island. The Tipi/'aka and the A////akatha,
such as they had been collected or settled at the Third
Council in 242 B.C., were brought to Ceylon by Mahinda,
who promulgated them orally, the Tipi/aka in Pali, the
A/Makatha in Sinhalese, together with an additional
A///^akatha of his own. It does not follow that Mahinda
knew the whole of that enormous literature by heart, for, as
he was supported by a number of priests, they may well
have divided the different sections among them, following
the example of Ananda and Upali at the First Council.
The same applies to their disciples also. But the fact of
their transmitting the sacred literature by oral tradition^ was
evidently quite familiar to the author of the Mahava;«sa.
For when he comes to describe the reign of VaZ/agamani
(88-76 B.C.) he simply says : 'The profoundly wise priests
had heretofore orally perpetuated the Pali Pi/akattaya and
its A///^akatha (commentaries). At this period these priests,
foreseeing the perdition of the people (from the perversions
of the true doctrines), assembled ; and in order that the reli-
gion might endure for ages, wrote the same in books.' No
valid objection has yet been advanced to our accepting
Buddhaghosa's A///^akathas as a translation and new re-
daction of the A////akathas which were reduced to writing
under Va//agamani 2, and these again as a translation of the
old A///zakathas brought to Ceylon by Mahinda ^ There
is prima facie evidence in favour of the truth of historical
events vouched for by such works as the Dipavawzsa and
the Mahavawsa so far back at least as Mahinda, because
we know that historical events were recorded in the
monasteries of Ceylon long before Mahanama's time.
Beyond Mahinda we move in legendary history, and must
be ready to surrender every name and every date as soon
as rebutting evidence has been produced, but not till then.
I cannot, therefore, see any reason why we should not
treat the verses of the Dhammapada, if not as the utter-
ances of Buddha, at least as what were believed by the
1 On the importance of oral tradition in the history of Sanskrit literature see
the writer's Ancient Sanskrit Literature, 1859, pp. 49 7-5 M- ^
^ Mahavamsa, p. 207; Dipava;«sa XX, 20. => Mahavamsa, p. 25..
XXVI DHAMMAPADA.
members of the Council under Ai-oka, in 242 B.C., to have
been the utterances of the founder of their rehgion; nor can
I see that Professor Minayeff has shaken the date of Bud-
dhaghosa and the general credibility of the Ceylonese tradi-
tion, that he was the translator and editor of commentaries
which had existed in the island for many centuries,
whether from the time of Va//agamani or from the time
of Mahinda.
Date of the Buddhist Canon.
We now return to the question of the date of the Bud-
dhist canon, which, as yet, we have only traced back to the
first century before Christ, when it was reduced to writing in
Ceylon under King Va//agamani. The question is, how far
beyond that date we may trace its existence in a collected
form, or in the form of the three Pi/akas or baskets. There
may be, and we shall see that there is, some doubt as to the
age of certain works, now incorporated in the Tipi/aka. We
are told, for instance, that some doubt attached to the canon-
icity of the iTariya-pi/aka, the Apadana, and the Buddha-
va;;/sa\ and there is another book of the Abhidham ma-
pi /aka, the Kathavatthu, which was reported to be the work
of Tissa Moggaliputta, the president of the Third Council.
Childers, s. v., stated that it was composed by the apostle
Moggaliputtatissa, and delivered by him at the Third
Mahasaiigiti. The same scholar, however, withdrew this
opinion on p. 507 of his valuable Dictionary, where he says:
' It is a source of great regret to me that in my article
on Kathavatthuppakara;/a;;/ I inadvertently followed James
D'Alwis in the stupendous blunder of his assertion that the
Kathavatthu was added by Moggaliputtatissa' at the Third
Convocation. The Kathavatthu is one of the Abhidhamma
books, mentioned by Buddhaghosa as having been rehearsed
at the First Convocation, immediately after Gotama's death ;
and the passage in Maheivawsa upon which D'Alwis rests
his assertion is as follows, Kathavatthuppakarara;^a;;/ para-
vadappamaddana;/? abhasi Tissatthero kd. tasmi;« sahgiti-
maw^ale, which simply means ' in that Convocation-assem-
1 See Childers, s. v. Nikaya.
INTRODUCTION. XXVll
bly the Thera Tissa also recited (Buddha's) heresy-crushing
Kathavatthuppakara^a.'
This mistake, for I quite agree with Childers that it was
a mistake, becomes however less stupendous than at first
sight it would appear, when we read the account given in
the Dipavawsa. Here the impression is easily conveyed
that Moggaliputta was the author of the Kathavatthu, and
that he recited it for the first time at the Third Council.
' Wise Moggaliputta,' we read \ ' the destroyer of the
schismatic doctrines, firmly established the Theravada, and
held the Third Council. Having destroyed the different
(heretical) doctrines, and subdued many shameless people,
and restored splendour to the (true) faith, he proclaimed
(pakasayi) (the treatise called) Kathavatthu.' And again :
'They all were sectarians^, opposed to the Theravada; and
in order to annihilate them and to make his own doctrine
resplendent, the Thera set forth (desesi) the treatise belong-
ing to the Abhidhamma, which is called Kathavatthu^.'
At present, however, we are not concerned with these
smaller questions. We treat the canon as a whole, divided
into three parts, and containing the books which still exist
in MSS., and we want to find out at what time such a
collection was made. The following is a short abstract of
the Tipi/aka, chiefly taken from Childers' Pali Dictionary :
I. Vinaya-pi/aka.
1. Vibhahga *.
Vol. I, beginning with Para^ika, or sins involving
expulsion.
Vol. H, beginning with Pa-i'ittiya, or sins involving
penance.
2. Khandhaka.
Vol. I, Mahavagga, the large section.
Vol. n, A'ullavagga, the small section.
3. ParivarapaZ/m, an appendix and later resume (25 chap-
ters). See p. xiii, n. 4 ; p. xxiv, n. 2.
1 Dipavawsa VII, 40. ^ Dipavamsa VII, 55.
3 Dr. Oldenberg, in his Introductien to the Vinaya-pi/aka, p. xxxii.
* Oldenberg, Viaaya-pi^aka I, p. xvi, treats it as an extended reading of the
Palimokkha.
XXVIU DHAMMAPADA.
II. Sutta-pi/aka.
1. Digha-nikaya, collection of long suttas (34 suttas)^.
2. Ma^/ama-nikaya, collection of middle suttas (152
suttas).
3. Sa;;/yutta-nikaya, collection of joined suttas.
4. Ariguttara-nikaya^ miscellaneous suttas, in divisions
the length of which increases by one.
5. Khuddaka-nikaya 2, the collection of short suttas, con-
sisting of —
1. Khuddakapa//^a, the small texts'*.
2. Dhammapada, law verses (423) ^.
3. Udana, praise (82 suttas).
4. Itivuttaka, stories referring to sayings of Buddha.
5- Suttanipata, 70 suttas *".
6. Vimanavatthu, stories of Vimanas, celestial palaces.
7. Petavatthu, stories of Pretas, departed spirits.
8. Theragatha, stanzas of monks.
9. Therigatha, stanzas of nuns.
10. 6"ataka, former births (550 tales) ' .
11. Niddesa, explanations of certain suttas by Sariputta.
^ The Mahaparinibbana-sutta, ed. by Childers, Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society, translated with other Suttas by Rhys Davids (S. B. E. vol. xi). Sept
Suttas Palis, par Grimblot, Paris, 1876.
^ The first four are sometimes called the Four Nikaj-as, the five together the
Five Nikayas. They represent the Dharma, as settled at the First and Second
Councils, described in the ^ullavagga (Oldenberg, I, p. xi).
•' Sometimes Khuddaka-nikaya stands for the whole Vinaya and Abhidhamma-
pi'aka, with the fifteen divisions here given of Khuddaka-nikaya. In the com-
mentary on the Brahmag-ala-sutta it is said that the Dighanikaya professors
rehearsed the text of the Gataka, Maha and KnWa Niddesa, Padsambhidamagt^a,
Suttanipata. Dhammapada, Udana, Itivuttaka, Vimana, and Petavatthu, Thera
and Theri Gatha, and called it Khuddakagantha, and made it a canonical text,
forming part of the Abhidhamma ; while the Ma^g-g'/iimanikaya professors assert
that, with the addition of the A'ariyapi/aka, Apadana, and Buddhavawsa, the
whole of this Khuddakagantha was included in the Suttapitaka. See Childers,
s. v. Nikaya. See also p. x.
* Published by Childers, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1869.
* Published by Fausboll, 1855.
* Thirty translated by Sir Coomara Swamy ; the whole by Fausboll, in Sacred
Books of the East, vol. x.
' Published by Fausboll, translated by Rhys Davids.
INTRODUCTION. xxix
12. Pa^isambhidamagga, the road of discrimination, and
intuitive insight.
13. Apadana^, legends.
14. Buddhavawsa S story of twenty-four preceding Bud-
dhas and of Gotama.
15. i^ariyapi/aka\ basket of conduct, Buddha's meri-
torious actions ^.
III. Abhidhamma-pi/aka.
1. Dhammasangawi, numeration of conditions of life**.
2. Vibhariga, disquisitions (18).
3. Kathavatthupakara//a, book of subjects for discussion
(1000 suttas).
' 4. Puggalapa;7/}atti or pa;/;/atti, declaration on puggala,
or personality.
5. Dhatukatha, account of dhatus or elements.
6. Yamaka, pairs (ten divisions).
7. Pa^//^anapakara;/a, book of causes.
Taking this collection as a whole we may lay it down as
self-evident that the canon, in its collected form, cannot be
older than any of the events related therein.
There are two important facts for determining the age of
the Pali canon, which, as Dr. Oldenberg'^ has been the first to
show, should take precedence of all other arguments, viz.
1. That in the Tipi/aka, as we now have it, no mention
is made of the so-called Third Council, which took place
at Pa/aliputta, under King Asoka, about 242 B.C.
2. That in the Tipi/aka, as we now have it, the First
Council of Ra^agaha (477 B.C.) and the Second Council
of Vesali (377 B.C.) are both mentioned.
From these two facts it may safely be concluded that the
Buddhist canon, as handed down to us, was finally closed
' Buddhaghosa does not say whether these were recited at the First Council.
■^ Partly translated by Gogerly, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Ceylon, 1852.
' Cf. Gogerly, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Ceylon. 184*^, p. 7-
* See Oldenbei g's Vinaya-pi/aka, Introduction, p. xxv. The kings A^-atasatru
(485-453 B. c), Udayin (453-437 B. c), and Mwida. (437^429 ". c.) are^ all
mentioned in the Tipiifaka. See Oldenberg, Zeitschrift der D. M. G., XXXIV,
PP- 752, 753-
XXX DHAMMAPADA.
after the Second and before, or possibly at, the Third
Council. Nay, the fact that the description of the two
Councils stands at the very end of the /v ullavagga may be
taken, as Dr. Oldenberg remarks, as an indication that it
was one of the latest literary contributions which obtained
canonical authority, while the great bulk of the canon may
probably claim a date anterior to the Second Council.
This fact, namely, that the collection of the canon, as
a whole, must have preceded the Second Council rests on
an argument which does great credit to the ingenuity of
Dr. Oldenberg. The Second Council was convoked to
consider the ten deviations- from the strict discipline of the
earliest times. That discipline had been laid down first in
the Patimokkha rules, then in the commentary now included
in the Vibhahga, lastly in the Mahavagga and A'ullavagga.
The rules as to what was allowed or forbidden to a Bhikkhu
were most minute ^, and they were so firmly established
that no one could have ventured either to take away or
to add anything to them as they stood in the sacred
code. In that code itself a distinction is made between
the offences which were from the first visited with punish-
ment (para^ika and pa/^ittiya) and those misdemeanours
and crimes which were put down as punishable at a later
time (dukka/a and thulla/('/&aya). With these classes the
code was considered as closed, and if any doubt arose as to
the criminality of certain acts, it could be settled at once
by an appeal to the Vinaya-pi/aka. Now it so happens
that, with one exception, the ten deviations that had to be
considered at the Second Council, are not provided for in
the Vinaya-pi/aka ; and I quite agree with Dr. Oldenberg's
argument that, if they had been mentioned in the Vinaya-
pi/aka, the Second Council would have been objectless.
A mere appeal to chapter and verse in the existing Pi/aka
would then have silenced all dissent. On the other side, if it
had been possible to add anything to the canon, as it then
existed, the ten, or nine, deviations might have been con-
* Oldenberg, Introduction, p. xxix. ^ Oldenberg, loc. cit. p. xx.
INTRODUCTION. xxxi
demned by a few additional paragraphs of the canon,
without convoking a new Council.
I think we may be nearly certain, therefore, that we
possess the principal portion of the Vinaya-pi/aka as it
existed before the Council of Vesali.
So far I quite agree with Dr. Oldenberg. But if he
proceeds to argue ^ that certain portions of the canon must
have been finally settled before even the First Council took
place, or was believed to have taken place, I do not think
his arguments conclusive. He contends that in the Parinib-
bana-sutta, which tells of the last days of Buddha's life,
of his death, the cremation of his body, and the distribution
of his relics, and of Subhadda's revolt, it would have
been impossible to leave out all mention of the First
Council, if that Council had then been known. It is true,
no doubt, that Subhadda's disloyalty was the chief cause
of the First Council, but there was no necessity to mention
that Council. On the contrary, it seems to me that the
unity of the Parinibbana-sutta would have been broken if,
besides telling of the last days of Buddha, it had also given
a full description of the Council. The very title, the Sutta
of the Great Decease, would have become inappropriate, if
so important a subject as the first Sahgiti had been mixed
up with it. However, how little we may trust to such
general arguments, is best shown by the fact that in some
very early Chinese renderings of the Hinayana text of the
Mahaparinibbana-sutta the story is actually carried on to
the First Council, two (Nos. 552 and 119) mentioning the
rehearsal under Kaj-yapa, while the third (No. 118) simply
states that the Tipi/aka was then collected ^.
' Loc. cit. pp. xxvi-xxviii.
^ There are several Chinese translations of Sutras on the subject of the Maha-
parinirvarza. Three belong to theMahayana school: i. Mahaparinirvawa-siitra,
translated by Dharmaraksha, about 414-423 a. d.; afterwards revised, 424-453
(Nos. 113, 114). 2. Translation by Fa-hian and Buddhabhadra, about 415 a.d.;
less complete (No. 120). 3. Translation (vaipulya) by Dharmaraksha I, i.e. ^u
Fa-hu, about 261-308 a.d. (No. 116). Three belong to the Ilinayana school :
I. Mahaparinirva«a-s{itra, translated by Po-fa-tsu, about 290-306 a.d. (No. 552).
2. Translation underthe Eastern Tsin dynasty, 317-420 a.d. (N0.119). 3. Trans-
lation by Fa-hian, about 415 a.d. (No. 118).
XXXU DHAMMAPADA.
We must be satisfied therefore, so far as I can see
at present, with fixing the date, and the latest date, of
a Buddhist canon at the time of the Second Council,
377 B.C. That some works were added later, we know;
that many of the treatises included in the canon existed
before that Council, can hardly be doubted. The second
chapter of the Dhammapada, for instance, is called the
Appamada-vagga, and if the Mahavaw^sa (p. 25) tells us
that at the time when Asoka was converted by Nigrodha,
that Buddhist priest explained to him the Appamada-
vagga, we can hardly doubt that there existed then a
collection (vagga) of verses on Appamada, such as we
now possess in the Dhammapada and in the Sa;//yutta-
nikaya ^.
With regard to the Vinaya, I should even feel inclined to
admit, with Dr. Oldenberg, that it must have existed in
a more or less settled form before that time. What I doubt
is whether such terms as Pi^'aka, basket, or Tipi/aka, the
three baskets, i. e. the canon, existed at that early time.
They have not been met with, as yet, in any of the canon-
ical books ; and if the Dipava;;/sa (IV, 32) uses the word
' Tipi/aka,' when describing the First Council, this is due to
its transferring new terms to older times. If Dr. Olden-
berg speaks of a Dvi-pi/aka- as the name of the canon
before the third basket, that of the Abhidhamma, was
admitted, this seems to me an impossible name, because at
the time when the Abhidhamma was not yet recognised as
a third part of the canon, the word pi/aka had probably
no existence as a technical term ^
We must always, I think, distinguish between the three
portions of the canon, called the basket of the Suttas, the
* Feer, Revue Critique, 1870, No. 24, p. 377. ^ Introduction, pp. x, xii.
^ Dr. Oldenberg informs me that pi/aka occurs in the JsTankisuttanta in the
Ms-gghima Nikaya (Tumour s MS., fol. the), but applied to the Veda. He
also refers to the tipi/akaHryas mentioned in the Western Cave inscriptions as
compared with the Paii/ianekayaka in the square Asoka character inscriptions
(Cunningham, Bharhut, pi. Ivi, No. 52). In the Sfltrakr/d-anga of the Gainas,
too, the term pidagain occurs (MS. Berol. fol. 77 a). He admits, however, that
pi/aka or tipi/aka, as the technical name of the Buddhist canon, has not yet been
met with in that canon itself, and defends Dvipi.'aka only as a convenient term.
INTRODUCTION. XXxiH
basket of Vinaya, and the basket of Abhidhamma, and
the three subjects of Dhamma (sutta), Vinaya, and Abhi-
dhamma, treated in these baskets. The subjects existed
and were taught long before the three baskets were de-
finitely arranged. Dhamma had originally a much wider
meaning than Sutta-pi/aka. It often means the whole
teaching of Buddha ; and even when it refers more par-
ticularly to the Sutta-pi/aka, we know that the Dhamma
there taught deals largely with Vinaya and Abhidhamma
doctrines. Even the fact that at the First Council, accord-
ing to the description given in the -/Tullavagga, the Vinaya
and Dhamma only were rehearsed, though proving the
absence at that time of the Abhidhamma, as a separate
Pi^aka, by no means excludes the subject of the Abhi-
dhamma having been taught under the head of Dhamma.
In the Mahakaru;/apu;/(^arika-sutra the doctrine of Buddha
is divided into Dharma and Vinaya ; the Abhidharma is
not mentioned. But the same text knows of all the twelve
Dharmapravay^anani \ the i. Sutra; 2. Geya ; 3. Vyaka-
ra;za ; 4. Gatha ; 5, Udana ; 6. Nidana ; 7. Avadana ; 8.
Itivr/ttaka ; 9. Cataka ; lO.VaipuIya; 11. Adbhutadharma ;
12. Upadej^a ; some of these being decidedly metaphysical.
To my mind nothing shows so well the historical character
both of the ATullavagga and of Buddhaghosa in the Introduc-
tion to his commentary on the Digha-nikaya, as that the
former, in its account of the First Council, should know
only of the Vinaya, as rehearsed by Upali, and the Dhamma,
as rehearsed by Ananda, while the much later Buddhaghosa,
in his account of the First Council ^, divides the Dhamma
into two parts, and states that the second part, the Abhi-
dhamma, was rehearsed after the first part, the Dhamma.
Between the time of the iTullavagga and the time of
Buddhaghosa the Abhidhamma must have assumed its
recognised position by the side of Vinaya and Sutta. It
must be left to further researches to determine, if possible,
^ See Academy, August 28, 1880, Division of Buddhist Scriptures.
^ Oldenberg. Introduction, p. xii ; Tumour, Journal of the Asiatic Society of
Bengal, vi, p. 510 seq.
[10] c
XXXIV DHAMMAPADA.
the time when the name of pi/aka was first used, and when
Tipi/aka was accepted as the title of the whole canon.
Whenever we see such traces of growth, we feel that we
are on historical ground, and in that sense Dr. Olden-
berg's researches into the growth of the Vinaya, previous
to the Second Council, deserve the highest credit. He
shows, in opposition to other scholars, that the earliest
elements of Vinaya must be looked for in the short Pati-
mokkha rules, which were afterwards supplemented by
explanations, by glosses and commentaries, and in that
form answered for some time every practical purpose.
Then followed a new generation who, not being satisfied,
as it would seem, with these brief rules and comments,
wished to know the occasion on which these rules had been
originally promulgated. What we now call the Vibhahga,
i. e. the first and second divisions of the Vinaya-pi/aka, is
a collection of the stories, illustrating the origin of each
rule, of the rules themselves (the Patimokkha), and of the
glosses and comments on these rules.
The third and fourth books, the Mahavagga and A'ulla-
vagga, are looked upon as possibly of a slightly later date.
They treat, in a similar manner as the Vibhahga, on the rules
not included in that collection, and give a general picture
of the outward life of the monks. While the Vibhahga deals
chiefly with the original so-called para§"ika, sahghadisesa, and
pa/'ittiya offences, the Khandhaka, i. e. the Mahavagga
and -^ullavagga, treats of the so-called dukka/a and thul-
la^^aya crimes. The arrangement is the same, story, rule,
and comment succeeding each other in regular sequence.
If we follow the guidance of the Vinaya-pi/aka, we should
be able to distinguish the following steps in the growth of
Buddhism before the Second Council of Vesali :
1. Teaching of Buddha and his disciples (543/477 A.D.
Buddha's death).
2. Collection of Patimokkha rules (first code).
3. Comment and glosses on these rules.
4. Stories in illustration of these rules (vibhahga).
5. Mahavagga and ATullavagga (Khandhaka).
INTRODUCTION. XXXV
6. Council of Vesali for the repression of ten abuses
(443/377 A. D.)
7. Description of First and Second Councils in ATuUavagga.
The iiTullavagga ascribes the settlement of the canon to
the First Council, and does not even claim a revision of
that canon for the Second Council. The Dipava;;/sa claims
a revision of the canon by the 700 Arhats for the Second
Council.
Chronology.
In order to bring the Council of Vesali in connection
with the chronology of the world, we must follow the
Buddhist historians for another century. One hundred and
eighteen years after the Council of Vesali they place the
anointment of King Asoka, during whose reign a Third
Council, under the presidency of Tissa Moggaliputta, took
place at Pa/aliputta, the new capital adopted by that king,
instead of Ra^agaha and Vesali. This Council is chiefly
known to us through the writings of the southern Buddhists
(Dipava;;zsa, Mahavawzsa, and Buddhaghosa), who belong
to the school of Moggaliputta (Theravada or Vibha^^avada),
which ruled supreme at Pa/aliputta, while Upagupta, the
chief authority of the northern Buddhists, is altogether
ignored in the Pali chronicles.
Now it is well known that Asoka was the grandson
of A'andagutta, and /iandagutta the contemporary of
Alexander the Great. Here we see land, and I may
refer to my History of Sanskrit Literature, published in
1859, for the process by which the storm-tossed ship of
Indian chronology has been landed in the harbour of real
historical chronology. We are told by the monks of the
Mahavihara in Ceylon that Asoka was crowned, according
to their computation, 146 + 18 years before the accession
of Du////agamani, 161 B.C., i.e. 325 B.C. ; that between his
coronation and his father's death four years had elapsed
(329 B. C.) ; that his father Bindusara had reigned twenty-
eight years ^ {357-3^9 B.C.), and Bindusara's father, Kan-
' Mahavamsa, p. 21.
C 2
XXXVl DHAMMAPADA.
dagutta, twenty-four years (381-357). As we know that
A'andagutta, whom the Ceylonese place 381-357 B.C., was
king of India after Alexander's conquest, it follows that
Ceylonese chronology is wrong by more than half a
century. For reasons stated in my History of Sanskrit
Literature, I fix the exact fault in Ceylonese chronology
as sixty-six years, assigning to /iandagutta the dates
315-391, instead of 381-357. This gives us 291-263 for
Bindusara, 259 for Asoka's abhisheka ; 259+118 = 377
for the Council of Vesali, and 377 + 100 = 477 for Buddha's
death, instead of 543 B.C.'
These dates are, of course, approximate only, and they
depend on one or two points on which people may differ.
But, with that reservation, I see no ground whatever for
modifying the chronological system which I put forward
more than twenty years ago. Professor Westergaard and
Professor Kern, who have since suggested different dates
for the death of Buddha, do not really differ from me in
principle, but only in their choice of one or the other alter-
native, which I readily admit as possible, but not as more
certain than my own. Professor Westergaard", for instance,
fixes Buddha's death at 368 (370), instead of 477. This
seems a wide difference, but it is so in appearance only.
Following Justinus, who says that Sandrokyptos ^ had
conquered the empire of India at the time when Seleucus
laid the foundations of his own greatness, I had accepted
315^, half-way between the murder of Porus and the
taking of Babylon by Seleucus, as the probable beginning
* According to Bigandet, Life of Gaudama, p. 361, the era of Buddha's death
was introduced by A^atasatru, at the conclusion of the First Council, and
began in the year 146 of the older Eetzana era (p. 12). See, however, Rhys
Davids, Num. Orient, vi, p. 38. In the Kara«t/a-vyuha, p. 96, a date is given
as 300 after the Nirvana, ' tr/tiye varshasate gate mama parinirvntasya.' In the
Asoka-avadana we read, mama nirvntim arabhya satavarshagata Upagupto
nama bhikshur utpatsyati.
'^ Uber Buddha's Todesjahr (i860), 1862.
^ The Greek name Sandrokyptus shows that the Pali corruption A'andagutta
was not yet the recognised name of the king.
* Mr. Rhys Davids accepts 315 b. c. as the date when, after the murder of
king Nanda, A'andragupta slept into the vacant throne, though he had begun
to count his reign seven or eight years before. Buddhism, p. 220.
INTRODUCTION. XXXVll
of iTandragupta's reign. Westergaard prefers 320 as a
more likely date for A'andragupta, and therefore places the
death of the last Nanda and the beginning of Aj-oka's
royal pretensions 268. Here there is a difference between
him and me of five years, which depends chiefly on the
view we take as to the time when Seleucus really laid what
Justinus calls the foundation of his future greatness.
Secondly, Westergaard actually adopts the idea, at which I
only hinted as possible, that the southern Buddhists made
two Aj"okas out of one, and two Councils out of one.
Trusting- in the tradition that 118 years elapsed between
Buddha's death and the Council under A.foka (at Pa/aliputra),
and that the Council took place in the king's tenth year
(as was the case with the imaginary Kalaxoka's Council),
he gets 268 — 10 = 258 as the date of the Council, and 368
or 370 as the date of Buddha's death \
The two points on which Westergaard differs from me,
seem to me questions which should be kept before our
mind in dealing with early Buddhist history, but which,
for the present at least, admit of no definite solution.
The same remark seems to me to apply to the calcula-
tions of another eminent Sanskrit scholar. Professor Kern^.
He lays great stress on the general untrustworthiness of
Indian chronology, and I am the last to differ from him
on that point. He then places the beginning of iTandra-
gupta's reign in 322 B.C. Allowing twenty-four years to him
and twenty-eight to his son Bindusara, he places the begin-
ning of Aj-oka's reign in 270. Aj'oka's inscriptions would
fall about 258. As Asoka. reigned thirty-six or thirty-seven
years, his death would fall in 234 or 233 B.C. Like Wester-
gaard, Professor Kern too eliminates Kalaj-oka, as a kind of
chronological A^oka, and the Council of Vai^-ali, and there-
fore places Buddha's death, according to the northern tradi-
tion, 100 or no years before Dharmajoka, i.e. 270+100
or -I- 110 = 370 or 380 3; while, according to the southern
• Westergaard, loc. cit. p. 128.
^ Jaartelling der Zuidelijke Buddhisten, 1873.
3 See Professor Kern's remark in Indian Antiquary, 1874, p. 79.
XXXVIU DHAMMAPADA.
tradition, that ii8 years elapsed between Aj-oka's acces-
sion and Buddha's death, the Ceylonese monks would seem
originally to have retained 270+118^ = 388 B.C. as Buddha's
Nirvana, a date which, as Professor Kern holds, happens
to coincide with the date assigned to the death of Maha-
vira, the founder of the Caina religion.
Here we see again that the moot point is the beginning
of A'andragupta's reign in accordance with the information
supplied by Greek historians. Professor Kern places it in
322, Westergaard in 320, I myself in 315. That difference
once granted, Dr. Kern's reasoning is the same as my own.
According to the traditions which we follow, Buddha's
death took place 100, no, 118, or 228^ years before Aj-oka.
Hence Professor Westergaard arrives at 368 or 370 B.C.
Professor Kern at 370 (380) or 388 B.C., I myself at 477 B.C.
Every one of these dates is liable to certain objections, and
if I prefer my own date, 477 B.C., it is simply because it
seems to me liable to neither more nor less reservations
than those of Professor Westergaard and Professor Kern,
and because, so long as we always remember the grounds
of our differences, namely, the beginning of iTandragupta's
reign, and the additional century, every one of these dates
furnishes a good hypothesis to work on, until we can arrive
at greater certainty in the ancient chronology of India.
To my mind all dates beyond A'andragupta are as yet
purely tentative, resting far more on a chronological theory
than on actual tradition ; and though I do not doubt the
historical character of the Council of Vaii-ali, I look upon
the date assigned to it, on the authority of the Dipavawsa
and Mahavawsa, as, for the present, hypothetical only.
' When Professor Kern states that the Mahava7?!sa (p. 22) places the Third
Council 218 years after Buddha's death, this is not so. Asoka's abhisheka takes
place in that year. The prophecy that a calamity would befall their religion, 118
years after the Second Council (^Mahavawsa, p. 28), does not refer to the Council,
but to isTandasoka's accession, 477 — 218= 259 b. c.
INTRODUCTION. XXxix
B.C.
557. Buddha born.
552. BImbisara born.
537-485. Bimbisara, 5 years younger than Buddha, was
15 when crowned, 30 or 31 when he met Buddha in 522.
485-453. A^ataj-atru (4x8 years).
477. Buddha's death (485 — 8 = 477).
477. Council at Ragagriha under Kaj'yapa, Ananda,
and Upah.
453-437. Udayibhadra (2x8 years).
/ Anuruddhaka (8 years).
437 429- \ Mu«^a (at Pa/ahputra).
429-405. Nagadasaka (3 x 8 years).
405-387. 6"ij-unaga (at VauaH).
387-359. Kalajoka.
377. Council at Vai^ali, under Yai'as and Revata,
a disciple of Ananda (259 + 118=1:377).
359~337- Ten sons of Kalaj-oka (22 years).
337-315. Nine Nandas (22 years); the last, Dhana-
nanda, killed by Kanakya..
315-291. ^andragupta (477 — 162 = 315; 3x8 years)\
291-263. Bindusara.
263-259. Ai'okaj sub-king at LJ^^ayini, as pretender — •
his brothers killed.
259. Ai-oka anointed at Pa/aliputra (477 — 218 = 259).
256. Aj"oka converted by Nigrodha (D.V. VI, 18).
256-253. Building of Viharas, Sthupas, &c.
255. Conversion of Tishya (M. V. p. 34).
253. Ordination of Mahendra (born 477 — 204=273).
251. Tishya and Sumitra die (D.V. Vll, 32).
242. Council at PArALiPUTRA (259—17 = 242 ; 477 —
236 = 241), under Tishya Maudgaliputra (477 — 236 = 241;
D.V. VII, 37).
241. Mahendra to Ceylon.
222. Ai-oka died (259 — 37 = 222).
193. Mahendra died (D.V. xvii, 93).
161. Du/^/zagdmani.
88-76. Vattagamani, canon reduced to writing.
A.D.
400. Dipava;;/sa.
420. Buddhaghosha, Pali commentaries,
459-477. Mahavawsa.
1 Westergaard, 320-296; Kern, 322-20
xl DHAMMAPADA.
Though the preceding table, embodying in the main the
results at which I arrived in my History of Ancient San-
skrit Literature, still represents what I hold to be true or
most probable with respect to Indian chronology, previous
to the beginning of our era, yet I suppose I may be expected
to say here a few words on the two latest attempts to fix
the date of Buddha's death ; the one by Mr. Rhys Davids
in the Numismata Orientalia, Part VI, 1877, the other by
Dr. Blihler in the Indian Antiquary, 1877 and 1878 \ Mr.
Rhys Davids, to whom we owe so much for the elucidation
of the history of Buddha's religion, accepts Westergaard's
date for the beginning of A'andragupta's reign, 320 B.C.,
instead of 322 (Kern), 315 (myself); and as he assigns
(p. 41) to Bindusara 25 years instead of 28 (Mahavawsa,
p. 21), he arrives at 268 as the year of Aj-oka's coronation^.
He admits that the argument derived from the mention of
the five foreign kings in one of Anoka's inscriptions, dated
the twelfth year of his reign, is too precarious to enable us
to fix the date of Aj-oka's reign more definitely, and though,
in a general way, that inscriptioxi confirms the date assigned
by nearly all scholars to Ajroka in the middle of the third
century B.C., yet there is nothing in it that Ai^oka might
not have written in 247 quite as well as in 258-261. What
chiefly distinguishes Mr. Rhys Davids' chronology from that
of his predecessors is the shortness of the period between
Aj^oka's coronation and Buddha's death. On the strength
of an examination of the list of kings and the list of the
so-called patriarchs, he reduces the traditional 218 years
to 140 or 150, and thus arrives at 412 B.C. as the probable
beginning of the Buddhist era.
In this, however, I cannot follow him, but have to
follow Dr. Biihler. As soon as I saw Dr. Biihler's first
essay on the Three New Edicts of Aj-oka, I naturally felt
delighted at the unexpected confirmation which he fur-
nished of the date which I had assigned to Buddha's
death, 477 B.C. And though I am quite aware of the
* Three New Edicts of Asoka, Bombay, 1877 ; Second Notice, Bombay, 1878.
^ Mr. Rliys Davids on p. 50 assigns the 25 years of Bindusara rightly to the
Purawas, the 28 years to the Ceylon Chronicles.
INTRODUCTION. xll
danger of unexpected confirmations of one's own views,
yet, after carefully weighing the objections raised by Mr.
Rhys Davids and Professor Pischel against Dr. Biihler's
arguments, I cannot think that they have shaken Dr.
Biihler's position. I fully admit the difficulties in the
phraseology of these inscriptions : but I ask, Who could
have written these inscriptions, if not Aj-oka ? And how,
if written by Aj-oka, can the date which they contain mean
anything but 256 years after Buddha's Nirva/za ? These
points, how^ever, have been argued in so masterly a manner
by Dr. Biihler in his ' Second Notice,' that I should be
afraid of weakening his case by adding anything of my
own, and must refer my readers to his ' Second Notice.'
Allowing that latitude which, owing to the doubtful read-
ings of MSS., and the constant neglect of odd months, we
must allow in the interpretation of Buddhist chronology,
A^oka is the only king we know of who could have
spoken of a thirty-fourth year since the beginning of his
reign and since his conversion to Buddhism. And if he
calls that year, say the very last of his reign (322 B.C.), %^6
after the departure of the Master, we have a right to say
that as early as Aj-oka's time, Buddha was believed to have
died about 477 B.C. Whether the inscriptions have been
accurately copied and rightly read is, however, a more
serious question, and the doubts raised by Dr. Oldenberg
(Mahavagga, p. xxxviii) make a new collation of the
originals absolutely indispensable, before we can definitely
accept Dr. Biihler's interpretation.
I cannot share Dr. Biihler's opinion^ as to the entire
worthlessness of the Caina chronology in confirming the
date of Buddha's death. If the ^"vetambara 6'ainas place
the death of Mahavira 470 before Vikramaditya, i. e. ^6 B.C.
+ 470 = 526B.C.,and the Digambaras 605, i.e. 7 8 a.D. deducted
from 605 = 527 B.C., this so far confirms Dr. Biihler's and
Dr. Jacobi's brilliant discovery that Mahavira was the same
as Niga«///a Nataputta, who died at Pava during Buddha"s
lifetime -. Most likely 527 is too early a date, while another
' Three Edicts, p. 21; Second Notice, pp. 9, 10.
2 See Jacobi, Kalpa-sutra of Bhadrabahu, and Oldenberg, Zeitschrift der
D.M.G., XXXIV, p. 749.
xlii ■ DHAMMAPADA.
tradition fixing Mahavira's death 155 years before A'andra-
gupta\ 470 B.C.. is too late. Yet they both show that
the distance between Ajroka (259-222 B.C.), the grandson
of /Tandragupta (315-291 B.C.), and the contemporaries of
Buddha was by the Cainas also believed to be one of two
rather than one century.
When I saw that the date of Buddha's death, 477 B.C.,
which in my History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature (1859)
I had myself tried to support by such arguments as were
then accessible, had received so powerful a support by the
discovery of the inscriptions of Sahasram, Rupnath, and
Bairat, due to General Cunningham, who had himself
always been an advocate of the date 477 B.C., and through
their careful decipherment by Dr. Buhler, I lost no time
in testing that date once more by the Dipavawsa, that
Ceylonese chronicle having lately become accessible through
Dr. Oldenberg's edition and translation ^. And here I am
able to say that, before having read Dr. Biihler's Second
Notice, I arrived, though by a somewhat different way, at
nearly the same conclusions as those so well worked out by
Dr. Biihler in his restoration of the Episcopal Succession
(theravali) of the Buddhists, and therefore feel convinced
that, making all such allowances as the case requires, we
know now as much of early Buddhist chronology as could
be known at the time of Ai'oka^s Council, 242 B.C.
Taking the date of Buddha's death 477 B.C. for granted,
I found that Upali, who rehearsed the Vinaya at the First
Council, 477 B.C., had been in orders sixty years in the
twenty-fourth year of A^atai-atru, i. e. 461 B.C., which was
the sixteenth year A.B. He must therefore^ have been born
in 54J B.C., and he died 447 B.C., i. e. thirty years A.B., at
the age of 94. This is said to have been the sixth year of
Udayi, and so it is, 453 — 6^=447 B.C.
In the year 461 B.C. Daj-aka received orders from Upali,
who was then 80 years of age ; and when Da^-aka had been
* Oldenberg, loc. cit. p. 750-
"^ The Dipavawsa, an ancient Buddhist historical record. London, 1879.
' Assuming twenty to be the minimum age at which a man could be ordained.
INTRODUCTION. . xlii
HI
in orders forty-five years (Dipava//zsa IV, 41), he ordained
^aunaka. This would give us 461—45=416 B.C., while the
tenth year of Nagadasa, 439 — 10, would give us 419 a.d.
Later on the Dipava;//sa (V, 78) allows an interval of forty
years between the ordinations of Da^-aka and 5aunaka,
which would bring the date of ^aunaka's ordination to 421
B.C., instead of 419 or 416 B.C. Here there is a fault which
must be noted. Daj-aka died 461—64 = 397 A.D., which is
called the eighth year of 6"ij-unaga, and so it is, 405 — 8 =
397 A.D.
When vSaunaka had been in orders forty years, i. e.
416 — 40 = 376, Kalai-oka is said to have reigned a little
over ten years, i.e. 387 — 11 = 376 A.D., and in that year
^aunaka ordained Siggava. He died 416 — 66 = 350 A.D.,
which is called the sixth year of the Ten, while in reality
it is the ninth, 359 — 6 = ^^^ A.D. If, however, we take 419
as the year of ^~"aunaka's ordination, his death would fall
419-66 = 353 B.C.
Siggava, when he had been in orders sixty-four years,
ordained Tishya Maudgaliputra. This date 376 — 64 = 312
B.C. is called more than two years after A'andragupta's
accession, and so it very nearly is, 315 — 2 = 313.
Siggava died when he had been in orders seventy-six
years, i. e. 376 — 76 = 300 A.D. This year is called the
fourteenth year of A'andragupta, which it very nearly is,
315-14=301.
When Tishya had been in orders sixty ^ years, he or-
dained Mahendra, 312 — 60 = 252 B.C. This is called six
years after Aj-oka's coronation, 259 — 6 = 253, and so it very
nearly is. He died 312 — 80 = 232 B.C., which is called the
twenty-sixth year of Aj-oka, and so it very nearly is.
1 I take 60 (80), as given in Dipavawzsa V, 95, 107, instead of 66 (86), as
given in Dipava?wsa V, 94.
xllv DHAMMAPADA.
Buddhist Patriarchs.
Ordination of Patri-
Birth. Ordination, successor. Death. Age. archate.
Upali (Generally 527 461 447 94 30
20 years (60)
^^ , before . ^ . .
Daraka ordination.) ^61 416 397 84 50
419 ^
45) 421
42
40
^aunaka „ 416 j 376 j 350 86 44(47)
419 t 379 } 353
421) 381 j
(40)
Siggava „ 376I 312^ 300I 96 50(52)
(64)
Tishya „ 312^ 253 233 100 68
(60)
]\Iahendra 273 253 „ 193 80 40
282(284)
If we test the dates of this table by the length of time
assigned to each patriarchate, we find that Upali ruled
thirty years, from Buddha's death, 477 to 447 ; Daj-aka
fifty years. To 5aunaka forty-four years are assigned,
instead of forty-seven, owing to a fault pointed out before ;
and to Siggava fifty-two years, or fifty-five ^ instead of fifty.
Tishya's patriarchate is said to have lasted sixty-eight
years, which agrees with previous statements.
Lastly, the years of the death of the six patriarchs, as
fixed according to the reigns of the kings of Magadha,
agree extremely well.
Upali died in the sixth year of Udayi, i, e. 453 — 6 = 447 B.C.
Daj-aka died in the eighth year of 6"i.$"unaga, i.e. 405 — 8 =
397 B.C.
.Saunaka died in the sixth year of the Ten, i. e. 359 — 6 =
353 B.C., showing again the difference of three years.
' The combined patriarchates of >S'aunaka and Siggava are given as 99 by the
Dipava?«sa.
INTRODUCTION. xl
V
Siggava died in the fourteenth year of ^andragupta, i. e.
315-14 = 301 B.C.
Tishya died in the twenty-sixth or twenty-seventh year
of Ai-oka, i.e. 259 — 27 = 233 B.C.
This general and more than general agreement between
dates taken from the history of the kings and the history
of the patriarchs leaves on my mind a decided impression
of a tradition which, though not strictly historical, in our
sense of the word, represents at all events the result of such
enquiries as could be made into the past ages of Buddhism
at the time of Ai-oka. There are difficulties in that tradition
which would certainly have been avoided, if the whole
chronology had been simply made up : but there is no
doubt a certain method too perceptible throughout, which
warns us that we must not mistake a smooth chronology
for solid history.
The Title of Dhammapada.
The title of Dhammapada has been interpreted in various
ways. It is an ambiguous word, and has been accepted as
such by the Buddhists themselves. Dhamma has many
meanings. Under one aspect it means religion, particu-
larly the religion taught by Buddha, the law which every
Buddhist should accept and observe. Under another aspect
dhamma is virtue, or the realisation of the law.
Pada also has many meanings. In the Abhidhana-
padipika it is explained by place, protection, Nirva;/a, cause,
word, thing, portion, foot, footstep.
Hence dhammapada may mean 'footstep of religion,'
and thus the title was first rendered by Gogerly, only that
he used the plural instead of the singular, and called it ' The
Footsteps of Religion,' while Spence Hardy still more freel>'
called it ' The Paths of Religion.' It may be quite true, as
pointed out by Childers, that pada by itself never means
path. But it means footstep, and the footstep towards
a thing is much the same as what we call the path to a
thing. Thus we read, verse 21, 'appamado amatapadam,'
earnestness is the step, i. e. the path that leads to immor-
xlvi DHAMMAPADA.
tality. Again, ' pamado ma/^/^uno padam ' can hardly mean
anything but that thoughtlessness is the path of death, is
the path that leads to death. The commentator, too,
rightly explains it here by amatasya adhigamupaya, the
means of obtaining immortality, i. e. Nirvawa^ or simply by
upayo, and even by maggo, the way. If we compare verses
92 and 93 of our text, and verses 254 and 255, we see that
pad a is used synonymously with gati, going. In the
same manner dhammapada would mean the footstep or
the footpath of virtue, i. e. the path that leads to virtue, and
supply a very appropriate title for a collection of moral
precepts. In verses 44 and 45 'path of virtue' seems to be
the most appropriate meaning for dhammapada ^, and it is
hardly possible to assign any other meaning to it in the
following verse (TTundasutta, v. 6) :
Yo dhammapade sudesite
Magge ^ivati sa;7/}ato satima,
Anava^a-padani sevamano
Tatiyam bhikkhum ahu magga^ivim,
* He who lives restrained and attentive in the way that has
been well pointed out, in the path of the law, cultivating
blameless words, such a Bhikkhu they call a Magga^ivi
(living in the way).'
I therefore think that ' Path of Virtue,'' or ' Footstep of
the Law,' was the idea most prominent in the mind of those
who originally framed the title of this collection of verses.
It seems to me that Buddhaghosa also took the same view,
for the verse which D'Alwis^ quotes from the introduction
of Buddhaghosa's commentary, —
Sampatta-saddhammapado sattha dhammapadaw subha;;«
Desesi,
and which he translates, ' The Teacher who had reached
the very depths (lit. bottom) of Saddhamma, preached this
holy Dhammapada,' — lends itself far better to another
translation, viz. ' The Teacher who had gained a firm
' Cf. Dhammapada, v. 285, nibbanam sugatena desitawz.
^ Buddhist Nirva«a, p. 62.
INTRODUCTION. xlvil
footing in the Good Law, showed (preached) the holy Path
of the Law.'
Gogerly, again, who may generally be taken as a faithful
representative of the tradition of the Buddhists still pre-
served in Ceylon, translates the title by the ' Footsteps of
Religion,' so that there can be little doubt that the priests
of that island accept Dhammapada in the sense of 'Vestiges
of Religion,' or, from a different point of view, ' The Path
of Virtue.'
M. L. Feer ^ takes a slightly different view, and assigning
to pada the meaning of foot or base, he translates Dhamma-
pada by Loi fondamentale, or Base de la Religion.
But it cannot be denied that the title of Dhammapada
was very soon understood in a different sense also, namely,
as ' Sentences of Religion.' Pada means certainly a foot of
a verse, a verse, or a line, and dhammapadam actually
occurs in the sense of a ' religious sentence.' Thus we read
in verse 102, ' Though a man recite a hundred Gathas made
up of senseless words, one dhammapadam, i.e. one single
word or line of the law, is better, which if a man hears, he
becomes quiet.' But here we see at once the difficulty of
translating the title of ' dhammapadam ' by ' religious sen-
tences.' Dhammapadam means one law verse, or wise
saw, not many. Professor Fausboll, who in his excellent
edition of the Dhammapada translated that title by ' a col-
lection of verses on religion,' appeals to such passages as
verses 44 and 102 in support of his interpretation. But in
verse 42 dhammapadaw sudesita;;^, even if it does not
mean the path of the law, could never mean 'versus legis
bene enarratos,' but only versum legis bene enarra-
tum, as Dr. Fausboll himself renders eka;;^ dhammapada;«,
in verse 102, by unus legis versus. Buddhaghosa, too,
when he speaks of many law verses uses the plural, for
instance ^, ' Be it known that the Gatha consists of the
Dhammapadani, Theragatha, Therigatha, and those un-
mixed (detached) Gatha not comprehended in any of the
above-named Suttanta.'
^ Revue Critique, 1870, p. 378. ^ D'Alwis, Pali Grammar, p. 61.
dviii DHAMMAPADA.
The only way in which Dhammapada could be defended
in the sense of ' Collection of Verses of the Law,' would be
if we took it for an aggregate compound. But such aggre-
gate compounds, in Sanskrit at least, are possible with
numerals only; for instance, tribhuvanam, the three
worlds ; ^aturyugam, the four ages^. It might therefore
be possible in Pali, too, to form such compounds as dai-a-
padam, a collection of ten padas, a work consisting often
padas, a decamerone, but it would in no wise follow that
we could in that language attempt such a compound as
Dhammapadam, in order to express a collection of law
verses^. Mr. BeaP informs us that the Chinese seem to
have taken Dhammapada in the sense of ' stanzas of law,'
* law texts,' or ' scripture texts.'
It should be remembered, also, that the idea of repre-
senting life, and particularly the life of the faithful, as a
path of duty or virtue leading to deliverance, (in Sanskrit
dharmapatha,) is very familiar to Buddhists. The four
great truths of their religion * consist in the recognition of
the following principles : i. that there is suffering ; 2. that
there is a cause of that suffering ; 3. that such cause can be
removed ; 4. that there is a way of deliverance, viz. the
doctrine of Buddha. This way is the ash/ahga-marga,
the eightfold way ^, taught by Buddha, and leading to Nir-
vana •^. The faithful advances on that road, padat padam,
* See M. M.'s Sanskrit Grammar, § 519.
^ Mr. D'Alwis' arguments (Buddhist Nirvana, pp. 63-67) in support of this
view, viz. the dhammapada may be a collective term, do not seem to me to
strengthen my own conjecture.
^ Dhammapada from Chinese, p. 4.
* Spence Hardy, Manual, p. 496.
' Bumouf, Lotus, p. 520, ' Ajoutons, pour terminer ce que nous trouvons a dire
sur le mot magga, quelque commentaire qu'on en donne d'ailleurs, que suivant
une definition rapportee par Turnour, le magga renferme une sous-division que
Ton nomme pa/ipada, en Sanscrit pratipad. Le magga, dit Turnour, est la
voie qui conduit au>Jibbana, la pa/ipada, litteralement "la marche pas a pas,
ou le degre," est la vie de rectitude qu'on doit suivre, quand on marche dans la
voie du magga.'
* See Spence Hardy, Manual, p. 496. Should not Aratur\'idha-dharmapada,
mentioned on p. 497, be translated by ' the fourfold path of the Law?' It can
hardly be the fourfold word of the Law.
INTRODUCTION. xlix
step by step, and it is therefore called pa/ipada, lit. the step
by step.
If we make allowance for these ambiguities, inherent in
the name of D ha mm a pa da, we may well understand how
the Buddhists themselves play with the word pada (see
V. 45). Thus we read in Mr, Beal's translation of a Chinese
version of the Pratimoksha ^ :
' Let all those who desire such birth,
Who now are living in the world.
Guard and preserve these Precepts, as feet.'
Translation.
In translating the verses of the Dhammapada, I have
followed the edition of the Pali text, published in 1855 by
Dr. Fausboll, and I have derived great advantage from his
Latin translation, his notes, and his copious extracts from
Buddhaghosa's commentary. I have also consulted trans-
lations, either of the whole of the Dhammapada, or of
portions of it, by Burnouf, Gogerly ^ Upham, Weber,
and others. Though it will be seen that in many places
my translation differs from those of my predecessors,
I can only claim for myself the name of a very humble
gleaner in this field of Pali literature. The greatest
credit is due to Dr. Fausboll, whose editio princeps of
the Dhammapada will mark for ever an important epoch
in the history of Pali scholarship ; and though later critics
have been able to point out some mistakes, both in his
text and in his translation, the value of their labours is not
to be compared with that of the work accomplished single-
handed by that eminent Danish scholar.
In revising my translation, first published in 1870 3, for
^ Catena, p. 207.
^ ' Several of the chapters have been translated by Mr. Gogerly, and have
appeared in The Friend, vol. iv, 1840.' (Spence Hardy, Eastern Monachism,
p. 169.)
^ Buddhaghosha's Parables, translated from Burmese by Captain T. Rogers,
R. E. With an Introduction, containing Buddha's Dhammapada, translated
from Pali by F. Max Miiller. London, 1870.
[10] d
1 DHAMMAPADA.
the Sacred Books of the East, I have been able to avail
myself of ' Notes on Dhammapada,' published by Childers
in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (May, 1871),
and of valuable hints as to the meaning of certain words
and verses scattered about in the Pali Dictionary of that
much regretted scholar, 1875. I have carefully weighed the
remarks of Mr. James D'Alwis in his ' Buddhist Nirvawa,
a review of Max Miiller's Dhammapada' (Colombo, 1871),
and accepted some of his suggestions. Some very suc-
cessful renderings of a number of verses by Mr. Rhys
Davids in his ' Buddhism,' and a French translation, too, of
the Dhammapada, published by Fernand Hu\ have been
consulted with advantage.
It was hoped for a time that much assistance for a more
accurate understanding of this work might be derived from
a Chinese translation of the Dhammapada ^, of which
Mr. S. Beal published an English translation in 1878.
But this hope has not been entirely fulfilled. It was^
no doubt, a discovery of great interest, when Mr. Beal
announced that the text of the Dhammapada was not
restricted to the southern Buddhists only, but that similar
collections existed in the north, and had been translated
into Chinese. It was equally important when Schiefner
proved the existence of the same work in the sacred canon
of the Tibetans. But as yet neither a Chinese nor a Tibetan
translation of the Pali Dhammapada has been rendered
accessible to us by translations of these translations into
English or German, and what we have received instead,
cannot make up for what we had hoped for.
The state of the case is this. There are, as Mr, Beal
informs us, four principal copies of what may be called
Dhammapada in Chinese, the first dating from the Wu
dynasty, about the beginning of the third century A.D.
This translation, called Fa-kheu-king, is the work of a
* Le Dhammapada avec introduction et notes par Fernand Hd, suivi du
Sutra en 42 articles, traduit du Tibetain, par Leon Feer. Paris, 1878.
* Texts from the Buddhist Canon, commonly known as Dhammapada, trans-
lated from the Chinese by Samuel Beal. London, 187S.
INTRODUCTION. U
Shaman Wei-/^i-lan and others. Its title means ' the Sutra
of Law verses,' kheu being explained by gat ha, a verse,
a word which we shall meet with again in the Tibetan
title, Gathasahgraha. In the preface the Chinese translator
states that the Shamans in after ages copied from the
canonical scriptures various gathas, some of four lines and
some of six, and attached to each set of verses a title,
according to the subject therein explained. This work of
extracting and collecting is ascribed to Tsun-/^e-Fa-kieou,
i. e. Arya-Dharmatrata, the author of the Sawyuktabhi-
dharma-i-astra and other works, and the uncle ofVasumitra.
If this Vasumitra was the patriarch who took a prominent
part in the Council under Kanishka, Dharmatrata's col-
lection would belong to the first century B.C. ; but this is, as
yet, very doubtful.
In the preface to the Fa-kheu-king we are told that the
original, which consisted of 500 verses, was brought from
India by Wai-/^i-lan in 223 A.D., and that it was translated
into Chinese with the help of another Indian called Tsiang-
sin. After the translation was finished, thirteen sections
were added, making up the whole to 753 verses, I4)5^°
words, and 39 chapters ^.
If the Chinese translation is compared with the Pali
text, it appears that the two agree from the 9th to the
35th chapter (with the exception of the 33rd), so far as
their subjects are concerned, though the Chinese has in
these chapters 79 verses more than the Pali. But
the Chinese translation has eight additional chapters in
the beginning (viz. On Intemperance, Inciting to Wisdom,
The vSravaka, Simple Faith, Observance of Duty, Re-
flection, Loving-kindness, Conversation), and four at the
end (viz. 'Nirvana., Birth and Death, Profit of Religion,
and Good Fortune), and one between the 24th and 25th
chapter of the Pali text (viz. Advantageous Service), all of
which are absent in our Pali texts. This, the most ancient
^ Eeal, Dhammapada, p. 30. The real number of verses, however, is 760. In
the Pali text, too, there are five verses more than stated in the Index ; see
M. M., Buddhaghosha's Parables, p. ix, note; Beal, loc.cit. p. 11, note.
d 2
lii DHAMMArADA.
Chinese translation of Dharmatrata's work, has not been
rendered into English by Mr. Beal, but he assures us that
it is a faithful reproduction of the original. The book which
he has chosen for translation is the Fa-kheu-pi-ii, i. e.
parables connected with the Dhammapada, and translated
into Chinese by two Shamans of the western Tsin dynasty
(a.d. 265-313). These parables are meant to illustrate the
teaching of the verses, like the parables of Buddhaghosa,
but they are not the same parables, nor do they illustrate
all the verses.
A third Chinese version is called TTuh-yan-king, i. e. the
Sutra of the Dawn (avadana?), consisting of seven volumes.
Its author was Dharmatrata, its translator ATu-fo-nien (Bud-
dhasmnti), about 410 A.D. The MS. of the work is said
to have been brought from India by a Shaman Sangha-
bhadaiiga of Kipin (Cabul), about 345 A.D. It is a much
more extensive work in ;^^ chapters, the last being, as in
the Pali text, on the Brahma7^a.
A fourth translation dates from the Sung dynasty (800
or 900 A. D.), and in it, too, the authorship of the text is
ascribed to Arya- Dharmatrata.
A Tibetan translation of a Dhammapada was dis-
covered by Schiefner in the 28th volume of the Sutras,
in the collection called Udanavarga. It contains 33
chapters, and more than 1000 verses, of which about one-
fourth only can be traced in the Pali text. The same
collection is found also in the Tan^r, vol. 71 of the Sutras,
foil. 1-53, followed by a commentary, the Udanavarga-
vivara;/a by the AMrya Pra^/7avarman. Unfortunately
Schiefner's intention of publishing a translation of it (Me-
langes Asiatiques, tom. viii. p. 560) has been frustrated by
his death. All that he gives us in his last paper is the
Tibetan text with translation of another shorter collection,
the Gathasaiigraha by Vasubandhu, equally published in
the 72nd volume of the Sutras in the Tan^ur, and accom-
panied by a commentary.
INTRODUCTION.
Spelling of Buddhist Terms.
I had on a former occasion ^ pleaded so strongly in
favour of retaining, as much as possible, the original San-
skrit forms of Pali Buddhist terms, that I feel bound to
confess openly that I hold this opinion no longer, or, at all
events, that I see it is hopeless to expect that Pali scholars
will accept my proposal. My arguments were these : ' Most
of the technical terms employed by Buddhist writers come
from Sanskrit ; and in the eyes of the philologist the various
forms which they have assumed in Pali, in Burmese, in
Tibetan, in Chinese, in Mongolian, are only so many corrup-
tions of the same original form. Everything, therefore,
would seem to be in favour of retaining the Sanskrit forms
throughout, and of writing, for instance, Nirvana instead of
the Pali Nibbana, the Burmese Niban or Nepbhan, the
Siamese Niruphan, the Chinese Nipan. The only hope, in
fact, that writers on Buddhism will ever arrive at a uniform
and generally intelligible phraseology seems to He in their
agreeing to use throughout the Sanskrit terms in their
original form, instead of the various local disguises and
disfigurements which they present in Ceylon, Burmah, Siam,
Tibet, China, and Mongolia.'
I fully admitted that many Buddhist words have assumed
such a strongly marked local or national character in the
different countries and in the different languages in which
the religion of Buddha has found a new home, that to trans-
late them back into Sanskrit might seem as affected, nay,
prove in certain cases as misleading, as if, in speaking of
priests and kings, we were to speak of presbyters and
cynings. The rule by which I meant mainly to be guided
was to use the Sanskrit forms as much as possible ; in fact,
everywhere except where it seemed affected to do so.
I therefore wrote Buddhaghosha instead of the Pali Bud-
dhaghosa, because the name of that famous theologian, 'the
Voice of Buddha,' seemed to lose its significance if turned
^ Introduction to Buddhaghosha's Parables, 1870, p. 1.
llV DHAMMAPADA.
into Buddhaghosa. But I was well aware what may be
said on the other side. The name of Buddhaghosa, ' Voice
of Buddha,' was given him after he had been converted
from Brahmanism to Buddhism, and it was given to him
by people to whom the Pali word ghosa conveyed the
same meaning as ghosha does to us. On the other hand,
I retained the Pali Dhammapada instead of Dharmapada,
simply because, as the title of a Pali book, it has become so
familiar that to speak of it as Dharmapada seemed like
speaking of another work. We are accustomed to speak
of Samanas instead of 5rama;/as, for even in the days of
Alexander's conquest, the Sanskrit word vSrama;/a had
assumed the prakritized or vulgar form which we find in
Pali, and which alone could have been rendered by the
later Greek writers (first by Alexander Polyhistor, 80-60
B.C.) by (TajxavoLoi^. As a Buddhist term, the Pali form
Samana has so entirely supplanted that of vSrama7/a that,
even in the Dhammapada (v. 388), we find an etymology
of Samana as derived from sam, 'to be quiet,' and not from
jram, ' to toil.' But if we speak of Samanas, we ought also
to speak of Bahmawas instead of Brahmawas, for this word
had been replaced by bahma/za at so early a time, that in
the Dhammapada it is derived from a root vah, ' to remove,
to separate, to cleanse '^.'
I still believe that it would be best if writers on Buddhist
literature and religion were to adopt Sanskrit throughout
as the lingua franca. For an accurate understanding of
the original meaning of most of the technical terms of
Buddhism a knowledge of their Sanskrit form is indispen-
sable ; and nothing is lost, while much would be gained, if,
even in the treating of southern Buddhism, we were to
' See Lassen, Indische Alterthumskunde, vol. ii. p. 700, note. That Lassen
is right in taking the 'S.apixavai, mentioned by Megasthenes, for Brahmanic, not
for Buddhist ascetics, might be proved also by their dress. Dresses made of
the bark of trees are not strictly Buddhistic.
^ See Dhammapada, v. 388 ; Bastian, Vdlker des ostlichen Asien, vol. iii.
p. 412: 'Ein buddhistischer Monch erklarte mir, dass die Brahmanen ihren
Namen fuhrten, als Leute, die ihre Siinden abgespiilt hiitten.' See also Lalita-
vistara, p. 551, line i ; p. 553, line 7.
INTRODUCTION. Iv
speak of the town of .Sravasti instead of Savatthi in Pali,
Sevet in Sinhalese ; of Tripi/aka, 'the three baskets,' instead
ofTipi/aka in Pali, Tunpitaka in Sinhalese; of Arthakatha,
'commentary,' instead of A////akatha in Pali, Atuwava in
Sinhalese ; and therefore also of Dharmapada, ' the path of
virtue,^ instead of Dhammapada.
But inclinations are stronger than arguments. Pali
scholars prefer their Pali terms, and I cannot blame them
for it. Mr. D'Alwis (Buddhist Nirvana, p. 68) says : ' It
will be seen how very difficult it is to follow the rule rigidly.
We are, therefore, inclined to believe that in translating Pali
works, at least, much inconvenience may not be felt by the
retention of the forms of the language in which the Buddhist
doctrines were originally delivered.' For the sake of uni-
formity, therefore, I have given up my former plan. I use
the Pali forms when I quote from Pali, but I still prefer the
Sanskrit forms, not only when I quote from Sanskrit Bud-
dhist books, but also when I have to speak of Buddhism in
general. I speak of Nirvana, dharma, and bhikshu, rather
than of Nibbana, dhamma, and bhikkhu, when discussing the
meaning of these words without special reference to southern
Buddhism ; but when treating of the literature and religion
of the Theravada school I must so far yield to the argu-
ments of Pali scholars as to admit that it is but fair to
use their language when speaking of their opinions.
DHAMMAPADA.
DHAM MA PA DA.
CHAPTER I.
THE TWIN-VERSES.
I. All that we are is the result of what we have
thought : it is founded on our thoughts, it is made
up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with
an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel fol-
lows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage.
I. Dharma, though clear in its meaning, is difficult to translate.
It has different meanings in different systems of philosophy, and its
peculiar application in the phraseology of Buddhism has been fully
elucidated by Burnouf, Introduction a I'Histoire du Buddhisme,
p. 41 seq. He writes: 'Je traduis ordinairement ce terme par
condition, d'autres fois par lois, mais aucune de ces traductions
n'est parfaitement complete; il faut entendre par dharma ce qui
fait qu'une chose est ce qu'elle est, ce qui constitue sa nature
propre, comme Fa bien montr^ Lassen, a I'occasion de la celebre
formule, " Ye dharma hetuprabhava." ' Etymological ly the Latin
for-ma expresses the same general idea which was expressed by
dhar-ma. See also Burnouf, Lotus de la bonne Loi, p. 524. Faus-
boU translates : ' Naturae a mente principium ducunt,' which
shows that he rightly understood dharma in the Buddhist sense.
Gogerly (see Spence Hardy, Eastern Monachism, p. 28) translates :
' Mind precedes action,' which, if not wrong, is at all events Avrongly
expressed ; while Professor Weber's rendering, ' Die Pflichten aus
dem Herz folgern,' is quite inadmissible. D'Alwis (Buddhist Nir-
wana, p. 70 seq.), following the commentary, proposes to give a
more technical interpretation of this verse, viz. ' Mind is the leader
of all its faculties. Mind is the chief (of all its faculties). The very
mind is made up of those (faculties). If one speaks or acts with a
polluted mind, then affliction follows him as the wheel follows the
feet of the bearer (the bullock).' To me this technical acceptation
DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. I.
2. All that we are is the result of what we have
thought : it is founded on our thoughts, it is made
up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a
pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow
that never leaves him.
3. ' He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me,
he robbed me,' — in those who harbour such thoughts
hatred will never cease.
4. 'He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me,
he robbed me,' — in those who do not harbour such
thoughts hatred will cease.
seems not applicable here, where we have to deal with the simplest
moral precepts, and not with psychological niceties of Buddhist
philosophy. It should be stated, however, that Childers, who first
(s.v. dhamma) approved of my translation, seems afterwards to have
changed his opinion. On p. 120 of his excellent Pali Dictionary
he said : ' Three of the five khandhas, viz. vedana, safwla, and sah-
khara, are collectively termed dhamma (plur.), " mental faculties,"
and in the first verse of Dhammapada the commentator takes the
word dhamma to mean those three faculties. But this interpretation
appears forced and unnatural, and I look upon Dr. Max Miiller's
translation, " All that we are is the result of what we have thought,"
as the best possible rendering of the spirit of the phrase mano pub-
bahgama dhamma.' But on p. 57 7 the same scholar writes : 'Of
the four mental khandhas the superiority of vii^ila/za is strongly
asserted in the first verse of Dhammapada, " The mental faculties
(vedana, sa?~w1a, and sahkhara) are dominated by IMind, they are
governed by Mind, they are made up of Mind." That this is the
true meaning of the passage I am now convinced ; see D'Alwis, Nir-
wana, pp. 70-75.' I do not deny that this may have been the tra-
ditional interpretation, at all events since the days of Buddhaghosa,
but the very legend quoted by Buddhaghosa in illustration of this
verse shows that its simpler and purely moral interpretation was
likewise supported by tradition, and I therefore adhere to my
original translation.
2. See Beal, Dhammapada, p. 169.
3. On akkoM/ii, see KaMayana VI, 4, 1 7. D'Alwis, Pali Grammar,
p. 38 note. * When akkoX'X'//i means " he abused," it is derived
from kruj, not from krudh.' See Senart, Ka/^Hyana, 1. c.
TWIN-VERSES.
,■-=? 5. For hatred does not cease by hatred at any
time : hatred ceases by love, this is an old rule.
6. The world does not know that we must all
come to an end here ; — but those who know it, their
quarrels cease at once.
7. He who lives looking for pleasures only, his
senses uncontrolled, immoderate in his food, idle,
and weak, Mara (the tempter) will certainly over-
throw him, as the wind throws down a weak tree.
8. He who lives without looking for pleasures,
his senses well controlled, moderate in his food,
faithful and strong, him Mara will certainly not
overthrow, any more than the wind throws down
a rocky mountain.
9. He who wishes to put on the yellow dress
without having cleansed himself from sin, who dis-
regards also temperance and truth, is unworthy of
the yellow dress,
6. Pare is explained by ' fools,' but it has that meaning by-
implication only. It is ol woWoi, of. Vinaya, ed. Oldenberg, vol. i.
p. 5, 1. 4. Yamamase, a i pers. plur. imp. Atm., but really a Le/
in Pali. See Fausboll, Five (ratakas, p. 38.
7. Mara must be taken in the Buddhist sense of ' tempter,' or
'evil spirit.' See Burnouf, Introduction, p. 76 : ' Mara est le demon
de I'amour, du p6ch6 at de la mort ; c'est le tentateur et I'ennemi
de Buddha.' As to the definite meaning of virya, see Burnouf,
Lotus, p. 548.
In the Buddhistical Sanskrit, kusida, * idle,' is the exact counter-
part of the Pali kusita ; see Burnouf, Lotus, p. 548. On the change
of Sanskrit d into Pali t, see Kuhn, Beitrage zur Pali Grammatik,
p. 40; Weber, Ind. Studien, XIII, p. 135.
9. The dark yellow dress, the Kasava or Kashaya, is the dis-
tinctive garment of the Buddhist priests. See Vishwu-sfitra LXIII,
36. The play on the words anikkasavo kasavam, or in Sanskrit
anishkashaya// kashayam, cannot be rendered in English. Kashaya
means ' impurity,' nish-kashaya, ' free from impurity,' anish-kashaya,
' not free from impurity,' while kashaya is the name of the yellowish
DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. I.
10. But he who has cleansed himself from sin, is
well grounded in all virtues, and regards also tem-
perance and truth, he is indeed worthy of the yellow
dress.
11. They who imagine truth in untruth, and see
untruth in truth, never arrive at truth, but follow
vain desires.
12. They who know truth in truth, and untruth
in untruth, arrive at truth, and follow true desires.
13. As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house,
passion will break through an unreflecting mind.
1 4. As rain does not break through a well- thatched
house, passion will not break through a well-reflecting
mind.
15. The evil-doer mourns in this world, and he
Buddhist garment. The pun is evidently a favourite one, for, as
FausboU shows, it occurs also in the Mahabharata, XII, 568 :
Anishkashaye kashayam ihartham iti viddhi tam,
Dharmadhva^ana/w munda,nam vrzltyartham iti me mati^.
' Know that this yellow-coloured garment on a man who is not free
from impurity, serves only for the purpose of cupidity ; my opinion
is, that it is meant to supply the means of living to those shavelings,
who carry their virtue or the dharma like a flag.'
(I read vnttyartham, according to the Bombay edition, instead of
kr/tartham, the reading of the Calcutta edition.)
On the exact colour of the dress, see Bishop Bigandet, The Life
or Legend of Gaudama, the Budha of the Burmese, Rangoon, 1866,
p. 504. Cf. Gataka, vol. ii. p. 198.
10. With regard to sila, ' virtue,' see Burnouf, Lotus, p. 547.
11, 12. Sara, which I have translated by ' truth,' has many mean-
ings in Sanskrit. It means the sap of a thing, then essence or
reality ; in a metaphysical sense, the highest reality ; in a moral
sense, truth. It is impossible in a translation to do more than indi-
cate the meaning of such words, and in order to understand them
fully, we must know not only their definition, but their history. See
Beal, Dhammapada, p. 64.
13. See Beal, Dhammapada, p. 65.
15. Kili//y^a is klish/a, a participle of klij. It means literally,
TWIN-VERSES.
mourns in the next ; he mourns in both. He mourns
and suffers when he sees the evil of his own work.
1 6. The virtuous man dehghts in this world, and
he delights in the next ; he delights in both. He
delights and rejoices, when he sees the purity of his
own work.
17. The evil-doer suffers in this world, and he
suffers in the next; he suffers in both. He suffers
when he thinks of the evil he has done ; he suffers
more when going on the evil path.
t8. The virtuous man is happy in this world,
and he is happy in the next ; he is happy in both.
He is happy when he thinks of the good he has
done ; he is still more happy when going on the
good path.
19. The thoughtless man, even if he can recite
a large portion (of the law), but is not a doer of
it, has no share in the priesthood, but is like a
cowherd counting the cows of others.
what is spoilt. The abstract noun klei-a, ' evil or sin,' is constantly
employed in Buddhist works; see Burnouf, Lotus, p. 443.
16. Like klish/a in the preceding verse, vijuddhi in the present
has a technical meaning. One of Buddhaghosa's most famous
works is called Visuddhi-magga. See Burnouf, Lotus, p. 844;
Beal, Dhammapada, p. 67.
17, 18. 'The evil path and the good path' are technical expres-
sions for the descending and ascending scale of worlds through
which all beings have to travel upward or downward, according to
their deeds; see Bigandet, Life of Gaudama, p. 5, note 4, and
p. 449; Burnouf, Introduction, p. 599; Lotus, p. 865, 1. 7 ; 1. 11.
Fausboll translates ' heaven and hell,' which comes to the same ;
cf. vv. 126, 306.
19. In taking sahitam in the sense of sawzhitam or sa^/^hita, I fol-
low the commentator who says, Tepi/akassa Buddhava/^anass' etaw
namaffz, but I cannot find another passage where the Tipi/aka, or
any portion of it, is called Sahita. Sawhita in vv. 100-102 has
a different meaning. The fact that some followers of Buddha were
8 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. I.
20. The follower of the law, even if he can recite
only a small portion (of the law), but, having for-
saken passion and hatred and foolishness, possesses
true knowledge and serenity of mind, he, caring
for nothing in this world or that to come, has in-
deed a share in the priesthood.
allowed to learn short portions only of the sacred writings by heart,
and to repeat them, while others had to learn a larger collection, is
shown by the story of A'akkhupala, p. 3, of Mahakala, p. 26, &c.
See Childers, s. v. sahita.
20. Samai^wa, which I have rendered by ' priesthood,' expresses
all that belongs to, or constitutes a real Sama«a or -Srama^^a, this being
the Buddhist name corresponding to the Brahmawa, or priest, of
the orthodox Hindus. Buddha himself is frequently called the
Good Sama«a. FausboU takes the abstract word sama?l?la as
corresponding to the Sanskrit samanya, * community,' but Weber
has well shown that it ought to be taken as representing jramawya.
He might have quoted the Sama?l«a-phala-sutta, of which Burnouf
has given such interesting details in his Lotus, p. 449 seq. Faus-
boU also, in his notes on v. 332, rightly explains sama?mata by
jramawyata. See Childers, s. v. saman?l.a.
Anupadiyano, which I have translated by ' caring for nothing,'
has a technical meaning. It is the negative of the fourth Nidana,
the so-called Upadana, which Koppen has well explained by
Anhanglichkeit, ' taking to the world, loving the world.' Koppen,
Die Religion des Buddha, p. 610. Cf. Suttanipata, v. 470.
EARNESTNESS.
CHAPTER II.
ON EARNESTNESS^
21. Earnestness is the path of immortality (Nir-
vi/^a), thoughtlessiiess the path of death. Those
who are in earnest do not die, those who are
thoughtless are as if dead already,
2 2. Those who are advanced in earnestness,
having understood this clearly, delight in earnest-
ness, and rejoice in the knowledge of the Ariyas
(the elect).
23. These wise people, meditative, steady, always
possessed of strong powers, attain to Nirva/za, the
highest happiness.
^ There is nothing in the tenth section of the Dhammapada, as
translated by Beal, corresponding to the verses of this chapter.
21. Apramada, which FausboU translates by 'vigilantia,' Gogerly
by ' religion,' Childers by ' diligence,' expresses literally the absence
of that giddiness or thoughdessness which characterizes the state of
mind of worldly people. It is the first entering into oneself, and
hence all virtues are said to have their root in apramada. (Ye ke^i
kusala dhamma sabbe te appamadamulaka.) I have translated it
by ' earnestness,' sometimes by ' reflection.' ' Immortality,' amr/ta,
is explained by Buddhaghosa as Nirvawa. Amn'ta is used, no
doubt, as a synonym of Nirva;/a, but this very fact shows how many
different conceptions entered from the very first into the Nirvawa
of the Buddhists. See Childers, s. v. nibbana, p. 269.
This verse, as recited to Ajoka, occurs in the Dipavawisa VI,
53, and in the Mahavaz?2sa, p. 25. See also Sanatsu^atiya, translated
by Telang, Sacred Books of the East, vol. viii. p. 138.
22. The Ariyas, the noble or elect, are those who have entered
on the path that leads to Nirvawa ; see Koppen, p. 396. Their
knowledge and general status is minutely described ; see Koppen,
P- 436.
23. Childers, s. v. nibbana, thinks that nibbana here and in
many other places means Arhatship.
[10] e
lO DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. II.
24. If an earnest person has roused himself, if
he is not forgetful, if his deeds are pure, if he
acts with consideration, if he restrains himself, and
lives according to law, — then his glory will increase.
25. By rousing himself, by earnestness, by restraint
and control, the wise man may make for himself
an island which no flood can overwhelm.
26. Fools follow after vanity, men of evil wis-
dom. The wise man keeps earnestness as his best
jewel.
27. Follow not after vanity, nor after the enjoy-
ment of love and lust ! He who is earnest and
meditative, obtains ample joy.
28. When the learned man drives away vanity
by earnestness, he, the wise, climbing the terraced
heights of wisdom, looks down upon the fools,
serene he looks upon the toiling crowd, as one
that stands on a mountain looks down upon them
that stand upon the plain.
29. Earnest among the thoughtless, awake among
the sleepers, the wise man advances like a racer,
leaving behind the hack.
30. By earnestness did Maghavan (Indra) rise
to the lordship of the gods. People praise earnest-
ness ; thoughtlessness is always blamed.
31. A Bhikshu (mendicant) who delights in
earnestness, who looks with fear on thoughtless-
25. Childers explains this island again as the state of an Arhat
(arahatta-phalam).
28. Cf. Childers, Dictionary, Preface, p. xiv. See Vinaya, ed.
Oldenberg, vol. i. p. 5, s. f.
31. Instead of sahaw, which Dr. Fausboll translates by * vin-
cens,' Dr. Weber by ' conquering,' I think we ought to read </ahan,
' burning,' which was evidently the reading adopted by Buddha-
EARNESTNESS. I I
ness, moves about like fire, burning all his fetters,
small or large.
32. A Bhikshu (mendicant) who delights in
reflection, who looks with fear on thoughtlessness,
cannot fall away (from his perfect state) — he is close
upon Nirva/^a.
ghosa. Mr. R. C. Childers, whom I requested to see whether the
MS. at the India Office gives saham or da.ha.?n, writes that the
reading daham is as clear as possible in that MS. The fetters are
meant for the senses. See verse 370.
32. See Childers, Notes, p. 5.
e 2
12 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. III.
CHAPTER III.
THOUGHT.
33. As a fletcher makes straight his arrow, a
wise man makes straight his trembHng and un-
steady thought, which is difficult to guard, difficuh
to hold back,
34. As a fish taken from his watery home and
thrown on the dry ground, our thought trembles
all over in order to escape the dominion of Mara
(the tempter).
35. It is good to tame the mind, which is difficult
to hold in and flighty, rushing wherever it listeth ;
a tamed mind brings happiness.
36. Let the wise man guard his thoughts, for
they are difficult to perceive, very artful, and they
rush wherever they list : thoughts well guarded
bring happiness.
37. Those who bridle their mind which travels
far, moves about alone, is without a body, and hides
in the chamber (of the heart), will be free from
the bonds of Mara (the tempter).
38. If a man's thoughts are unsteady, if he does
not know the true law, if his peace of mind is
troubled, his knowledge will never be perfect,
39. If a man's thoughts are not dissipated, if
33. Cf. Gataka, vol. i. p. 400.
34. On Mara, see verses 7 and 8.
35-39. Cf. Gataka, vok i. pp. 312, 400.
39. FausboU traces anavassuta, 'dissipated,' back to the Sanskrit
THOUGHT.
his mind is not perplexed, if he has ceased to think
of good or evil, then there is no fear for him while
he is watchful.
root jyai, 'to become rigid;' but the participle of that root would
be jita, not j'yuta. Professor Weber suggests that anavassuta stands
for the Sanskrit anavasruta, which he translates unbefleckt, ' un-
spotted.' If avasruta were the right word, it might be taken in the
sense of ' not fallen off, not fallen away,' but it could not mean
* unspotted ; ' cf. dhairyaw no 'susruvat, ' our firmness ran away.'
I have little doubt, however, that avassuta represents the Sanskrit
avajruta, and is derived from the root sru, here used in its tech-
nical sense, peculiar to the Buddhist literature, and so well explained
by Burnouf in his Appendix XIV (Lotus, p. 820). He shows that,
according to Hema^andra and the G^ina-alankara, ajravakshaya,
Pali asavasaw^khaya is counted as the sixth abhi^«a, wherever six
of these intellectual powers are mentioned, instead of five. The
Chinese translate the term in their own Chinese fashion by ' stilla-
tionis finis,' but Burnouf claims for it the definite sense of destruc-
tion of faults or vices. He quotes from the Lalita-vistara (Adhyaya
XXII, ed. Rajendra Lai Mittra, p. 448) the words uttered by
Buddha when he arrived at his complete Buddhahood : —
6'ushka ajrava na puna/^ jravanti,
'The vices are dried up, they will not flow again;'
and he shows that the Pali Dictionary, the Abhidhanappadipika,
explains asava simply by kama, ' love, pleasure of the senses.' In
the Mahaparinibbana-sutta, three classes of asava are distinguished,
the kamasava, the bhavasava, and the avi^^asava. See also Bur-
nouf, Lotus, p. 665 ; Childers, s. v. asavo.
That svn means ' to run,' and is in fact a merely dialectic variety
of sru, has been proved by Burnouf, while Boehtlingk thinks the
substitution of s for s is a mistake. A^rava therefore, or asrava,
meant originally ' the running out towards objects of the senses '
(cf. sahga, alaya, &c.), and had nothing to do with asrava, ' a run-
ning, a sore,' Atharva-veda I, 2, 4. This conception of the ori-
ginal purport of a-l-jru or ava-JTU is confirmed by a statement of
Colebrooke's, who, when treating of the (7ainas, writes (Miscella-
neous Essays, I, 382): ' Asrava is that which directs the embodied
spirit (asravayati purusham) towards external objects. It is the
occupation and employment (vr/tti or pravn'tti) of the senses or
organs on sensible objects. Through the means of the senses it
14 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. Ill,
40. Knowing that this body is (fragile) Hke a
jar, and making this thought firm hke a fortress,
one should attack Mara (the tempter) with the
weapon of knowledge, one should watch him when
conquered, and should never rest.
41. Before long, alas! this body will lie on the
earth, despised, without understanding, like a use-
less log.
42. Whatever a hater may do to a hater, or
affects the embodied spirit with the sentiment of taction, colour,
smell, and taste. Or it is the association or connection of body
with right and wrong deeds. It comprises all the karmas, for they
(asravayanti) pervade, influence, and attend the doer, following him
or attaching to him. It is a misdirection (mithya-pravr/tti) of the
organs, for it is vain, a cause of disappointment, rendering the
organs of sense and sensible objects subservient to fruition. Sa;?^-
vara is that which stops (samvrtnoti) the course of the foregoing,
or closes up the door or passage to it, and consists in self-com-
mand or restraint of organs internal and external, embracing all
means of self-control and subjection of the senses, calming and
subduing them.'
For a full account of the a^ravas, see Lalita-vistara, ed. Calc.
pp. 445 and 552, where Kshiwa^rava is given as a name of Buddha.
A^rava occurs in Apastamba's Dharma-sutras II, 5, 9, where the
commentator explains it by objects of the senses, by which the
soul is made to run out. It is better, however, to take a^rava
here, too, as the act of running out, the affections, appetites,
passions.
40. Anivesana has no doubt a technical meaning, and may
signify, one who has left his house, his family and friends, to
become a monk. A monk shall not return to his home, but travel
about ; he shall be anivesana, ' homeless,' anagara, ' houseless.'
But I doubt whether this can be the meaning of anivesana here,
as the sentence, let him be an anchorite, would come in too
abruptly. I translate it therefore in a more general sense, let him
not return or turn away from the battle, let him watch Mara, even
after he is vanquished, let him keep up a constant fight against the
adversary, without being attached to anything or anybody.
THOUGHT.
15
an enemy to an enemy, a wrongly-directed mind
will do us greater mischief.
43. Not a mother, not a father will do so much,
nor any other relative ; a well-directed mind will
do us greater service.
43. See Beal, Dhammapada, p. 73.
l6 DIIAMMAPADA. CHAP. IV.
CHAPTER IV.
FLOWERS ^
44. Who shall overcome this earth, and the
world of Yama (the lord of the departed), and
the world of the gods ? Who shall find out the
plainly shown path of virtue, as a clever man
finds out the (right) flower ?
45. The disciple will overcome the earth, and
the world of Yama, and the world of the gods.
The disciple will find out the plainly shown path
of virtue, as a clever man finds out the (right)
flower.
^ See Beal, Dhammapada, p. 75.
44, 45. If I differ from the translation of FausboU and Weber,
it is because the commentary takes the two verbs, vi^^essati and
pa>^essati, to mean in the end the same thing, i.e. sa/^/^/zi-karissati,
' he will perceive.' I have not ventured to take vi^essate for vi^a-
nissati, though it should be remembered that the overcoming of the
earth and of the worlds below and above, as here alluded to, is
meant to be achieved by means of knowledge. Pa/^essati, ' he
will gather' (of. vi-/^i, Indische Spriiche, 4560), means also, like 'to
gather' in English, 'he will perceive or understand,' and the dham-
mapada, or ' path of virtue,' is distinctly explained by Buddha-
ghosa as consisting of the thirty-seven states or stations which lead
to Bodhi. (See Burnouf, Lotus, p. 430 ; Hardy, Manual, p. 497.)
Dhammapada might, no doubt, mean also ' a law-verse,' and
sudesita, ' well taught,' and this double meaning may be intentional
here as elsewhere. Buddha himself is called Marga-darjaka and
Marga-dejika (cf. Lai. Vist. p. 551). There is a curious similarity
between these verses and verses 6540-41, and 9939 of the »S'anti-
parva :
Pushpawiva vi/('invantam anyatragatamanasam,
Anavapteshu kameshu mr/tyur abhyeti manavam,
'Death approaches man like one who is gathering flowers, and
FLOWERS. 1 7
46. He who knows that this body is Hke froth,
and has learnt that it is as unsubstantial as a mirage,
will break the flower-pointed arrow of Mara, and
never see the king of death.
47. Death carries off a man who is gathering
flowers and whose mind is distracted, as a flood
carries off a sleeping village.
48. Death subdues a man who is gathering flowers,
and whose mind is distracted, before he is satiated
in his pleasures.
49. As the bee collects nectar and departs without
injuring the flower, or its colour or scent, so let a
sage dwell in his village.
50. Not the perversities of others, not their sins
whose mind is turned elsewhere, before his desires have been
fulfilled.'
Supta?;/ vyaghraw mahaugho va mr/tyur adaya gaM/^ati,
Saw/^invanakam evainaw kamanam avitr/ptikam.
* As a stream (carries off) a sleeping tiger, death carries oif this
man who is gathering flowers, and who is not satiated in his
pleasures.'
This last verse, particularly, seems to me clearly a translation
from Pali, and the kam of sa«/('invanakam looks as if put in metri
causa.
46. The flower-arrows of Mara, the tempter, are borrowed from
Kama, the Hindu god of love. For a similar expression see
Lalita-vistara, ed. Calc. p. 40, 1. 20, mayamari/^isadnsa vidyutphe-
nopamaj /^apala-^. It is on account of this parallel passage that
I prefer to translate mari/^i by ' mirage,' and not by ' sunbeam,' as
Fausboll, or by ' solar atom,' as Weber proposes. The expression,
' he will never see the king of death,' is supposed to mean Arhatship
by Childers, s.v. nibbana, p. 270.
47. See Thiessen, Die Legende von Kisagotami, p. 9.
48. Antaka, ' death,' is given as an explanation of Mara in the
Amarakosha and Abhidhanappadipika (cf. Fausboll, p. 210).
49. See Beal, Catena, p. 159, where vv. 49 and 50 are ascribed to
Wessabhu, i. e.Vijvabhia. See also Der Weise und der Thor, p. 134.
1 8 DPIAMMAPADA. CHAP. IV.
of commission or omission, but his own misdeeds
and negligences should a sage take notice of.
51. Like a beautiful flower, full of colour, but
without scent, are the fine but fruitless words of him
who does not act accordingly.
52. But, like a beautiful flower, full of colour and
full of scent, are the fine and fruitful words of him
who acts accordingly.
53. As many kinds of wreaths can be made from
a heap of flowers, so many good things may be
achieved by a mortal when once he is born.
54. The scent of flowers does not travel against
the wind, nor (that of) sandal-wood, or of Tagara
and Mallika flowers ; but the odour of good people
travels even against the wind ; a good man per-
vades every place.
55. Sandal- wood or Tagara, a lotus-flower, or a
Vassiki, among these sorts of perfumes, the perfume
of virtue is unsurpassed.
56. Mean is the scent that comes from Tagara
and sandal-wood ; — the perfume of those who pos-
sess virtue rises up to the gods as the highest.
57. Of the people who possess these virtues, who
live without thoughtlessness, and who are emanci-
51. St. Matthew xxiii. 3, ' For they say, and do not.'
54. Tagara, a plant from which a scented powder is made.
Mallaka or malhka, according to Benfey, is an oil vessel. Hence
tagaramallika was supposed to mean a bottle holding aromatic
powder, or oil made of the Tagara. Mallika, however, is given by
Dr. Eitel (Handbook of Chinese Buddhism) as the name of a
flower now called Casturi (musk) on account of its rich odour, and
Dr. Morris informs me that he has found mallika in Pali as a name
of jasmine. See also Childers, s. v.; Notes, p. 6 ; and Beal, Dhamma-
pada, p. 76.
FLOWERS. 19
pated through true knowledge, Mara, the tempter,
never finds the way.
58, 59. As on a heap of rubbish cast upon the
highway the Hly will grow full of sweet perfume and
delight, thus the disciple of the truly enlightened
Buddha shines forth by his knowledge among those
who are like rubbish, among the people that walk
in darkness.
58, 59. Cf. Beal, Dhammapada, p. 76.
20 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. V.
CHAPTER V.
THE FOOL.
60. Long is the night to him who is awake ; long
is a mile to him who is tired ; long is life to the
foolish who do not know the true la^.'^"'^' ~"
61. If a traveller does not meet with one who is
his better, or his equal, let him firmly keep to his
solitary journey ; there is no companionship with
a fool.
62. ' These sons belong to me, and this w^ealth
belongs to me,' with such thoughts a fool is tor-
mented. He himself does not belong to himself;
how much less sons and wealth ?
63. The fool who knows his foolishness, is wise at
least so far. But a fool who thinks himself wise, he
is called a fool indeed.
64. If a fool be associated with a wise man even
all his life, he will perceive the truth as little as a
spoon perceives the taste of soup.
65. If an intelligent man be associated for one
minute only with a wise man, he will soon perceive
the truth, as the tongue perceives the taste of soup.
66. Fools of little understandingf have themselves
60. * Life,' sa^isara, is the constant revolution of birth and death
which goes on for ever until the knowledge of the true law or the
true doctrine of Buddha enables a man to free himself from sa;«sara,
and to enter into Nirvawa. See Buddhaghosha's Parables, Parable
XIX, p. 134.
61. Cf. Suttanipata, v. 46.
63. Cf. Beal, Dhammapada, p. 77.
65, Cf. Beal, Dhammapada, p. 78.
THE FOOL. 21
for their greatest enemies, for they do evil deeds
which must bear bitter fruits.
6"/. That deed is not well done of which a man
must repent, and the reward of which he receives
crying and with a tearful face.
68. No, that deed is well done of which a man
does not repent, and the reward of which he receives
gladly and cheerfully.
69. As long as the evil deed done does not bear
fruit, the fool thinks it is like honey ; but when it
ripens, then the fool suffers grief.
70. Let a fool month after month eat his food
(like an ascetic) with the tip of a blade of Ku^a
grass, yet is he not worth the sixteenth particle of
those who have well weighed the law.
71. An evil deed, like newly-drawn milk, does not
turn (suddenly) ; smouldering, like fire covered by
ashes, it follows the fool.
67. See Beal, I.e. p. 78.
69. Taken from the Sawyutta-nikdya, where, however, we read
thananhi instead of madhuva; see Feer, Comptes Rendus, 1871,
p. 64.
70. The commentator clearly takes sankhata in the sense of
sahkhyata, ' reckoned,' for he explains it by watadhamma, tulita-
dhamma. The eating with the tip of Kusa. grass has reference
to the fastings performed by the Brahmans, but disapproved of,
except as a moderate discipline, by the followers of Buddha. This
verse seems to interrupt the continuity of the other verses which
treat of the reward of evil deeds, or of the slow but sure ripening
of every sinful act. See Childers, s. v. sahkhato.
71. I am not at all certain of the simile, unless mu/^/^ati, as applied
to milk, can be used in the sense of changing or turning sour. In
Manu IV, 172, where a similar sentence occurs, the commentators
are equally doubtful : Nadharmaj- /^arito loke sadya^ phalati gaur
iva, ' for an evil act committed in the world does not bear fruit at
once, like a cow;' or 'like the earth (in due season);' or 'like
milk.' See Childers, Notes, p. 6.
2 2 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. V.
72. And when the evil deed, after it has become
known, brings sorrow to the fool, then it destroys
his bright lot, nay, it cleaves his head.
73. Let the fool wish for a false reputation, for
precedence among the Bhikshus, for lordship in the
convents, for worship among other people !
74. ' May both the layman and he who has left the
world think that this is done by me ; may they be
subject to me in everything which is to be done or
is not to be done,' thus is the mind of the fool, and
his desire and pride increase.
75. * One is the road that leads to wealth, another
the road that leads to Nirva;/a;' if the Bhikshu,
the disciple of Buddha, has learnt this, he will not
yearn for honour, he will strive after separation
from the world.
72. I take i^attam for ^wapitam, the causative of ^?^atam, for
which in Sanskrit, too, we have the form without i, ^?iaptam. This
^«aptam, 'made known, revealed,' stands in opposition to the
Manna, 'covered, hid,' of the preceding verse. Sukkawsa, which
FausboU explains by jukla;«sa, has probably a more technical and
special meaning. Childers traces fattam to the Vedic ^jlatram,
* knowledge.' Fausboll refers to Gataka, vol. i. p. 445, v. 118.
75. Viveka, which in Sanskrit means chiefly understanding, has
with the Buddhists the more technical meaning of separation,
whether separation from the world and retirement to the solitude
of the forest (kaya-viveka), or separation from idle thoughts (-^itta-
viveka), or the highest separation and freedom (Nirvawa).
THE WISE MAN. 23
CHAPTER VI.
THE WISE MAN (PAiVDITA).
76. If you see an intelligent man who tells you
where true treasures are to be found, who shows
what is to be avoided, and administers reproofs,
follow that wise man ; it will be better, not worse,
for those who follow him.
77. Let him admonish, let him teach, let him
forbid what is improper ! — he will be beloved of the
good, by the bad he will be hated.
78. Do not have evil-doers for friends, do not
have low people for friends : have virtuous people
for friends, have for friends the best of men.
79. He who drinks in the law lives happily with
a serene mind ; the sage rejoices always in the law,
as preached by the elect (Ariyas).
80. Well-makers lead the water (wherever they
like) ; fletchers bend the arrow ; carpenters bend
a log of wood ; wise people fashion themselves.
78. It is hardly possible to take mitte kalyawe in the technical
sense of kalya;za-mitra, 'ein geistlicher Rath,' a spiritual guide.
Burnouf (Introd. p. 284) shows that in the technical sense kalyawa-
mitra was widely spread in the Buddhist world.
79. Ariya, ' elect, venerable,' is explained by the commentator
as referring to Buddha and other teachers.
80. See verses 33 and 145, the latter being a mere repetition of
our verse. The nettikas, to judge from the commentary and from
the general purport of the verse, are not simply water-carriers, but
builders of canals and aqueducts, who force the water to go where
it would not go by itself. The Chinese translator says, ' the pilot
manages his ship.' See Beal, 1. c. p. 79.
24 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. VI.
8 1. As a solid rock Is not shaken by the wind,
wise people falter not amidst blame and praise.
82. Wise people, after they have listened to the
laws, become serene, like a deep, smooth, and still
lake.
83. Good people walk on whatever befall, the
good do not prattle, longing for pleasure ; whether
touched by happiness or sorrow wise people never
appear elated or depressed.
84. If, whether for his own sake, or for the sake
of others, a man wishes neither for a son, nor for
wealth, nor for lordship, and if he does not wish for
his own success by unfair means, then he is good,
wise, and virtuous.
85. Few are there among men who arrive at the
other shore (become Arhats); the other people here
run up and down the shore.
83. The first line is very doubtful. I have adopted, in my trans-
lation, a suggestion of Mr. Childers, who writes, ' I think it will be
necessary to take sabbattha in the sense of" everywhere," or " under
every condition;" pa«/^akhandadibhedesu, sabbadhammesu, says
Buddhaghosha. I do not think we need assume that B. means
the word vi^ahanti to be a synonym of va^anti. I would rather
take the whole sentence together as a gloss upon the word va^anti :
— va^antiti arahatta«anena apaka^(37;anta k/ia.nda.raga.7n vi^ahanti;
va^anti means that, ridding themselves of lust by the wisdom which
Arhatship confers, they cast it away.' I am inclined to think the
hne means ' the righteous walk on (unmoved) in all the conditions
of life.' Ninda, pasawsa, sukha, dukkha are four of the eight
lokadhammas, or earthly conditions ; the remaining lokadhammas
are labha, alabha, yasa, ayasa.
In v. 245, passata, ' by a man who sees,' means * by a man who
sees clearly or truly.' In the same manner vra^ may mean, not
simply ' to walk,' but ' to walk properly,' or may be used synony-
mously with pravra^.
85. 'The other shore' is meant for Nirvana, 'this shore' for
common life. On reaching Nirva-'/a, the dominion of death is
THE WISE MAN. 2$
86. But those who, when the law has been well
preached to them, follow the law, will pass across
the dominion of death, however difficult to over-
come.
Sy, 88. A wise man should leave the dark state
(of ordinary life), and follow the bright state (of the
Bhikshu). After going from his home to a home-
less state, he should in his retirement look for
enjoyment where there seemed to be no enjoy-
ment. Leaving all pleasures behind, and calling
nothing his own, the wise man should purge himself
from all the troubles of the mind.
89. Those whose mind is well grounded in the
(seven) elements of knowledge, who without cling-
overcome. The commentator supplies taritva, ' having crossed,' in
order to explain the accusative maH'udheyyam. Possibly param
essanti should here be taken as one word, in the sense of over-
coming.
87, 88. Dark and bright are meant for bad and good ; cf. Sutta-
nipata, v. 526, and Dhp. v. 167. Leaving one's home is the same
as becoming a mendicant, without a home or family, an anagara,
or anchorite. A man in that state of viveka, or retirement (see
V. 75, note), sees, that where before there seemed to be no pleasure
there real pleasure is to be found, or vice versa. A similar idea is
expressed in verse 99. See Burnouf, Lotus, p. 4 7 4, where he speaks
of ' Le plaisir de la satisfaction, n^ de la distinction.'
The five troubles or evils of the mind are passion, anger, igno-
rance, arrogance, pride ; see Burnouf, Lotus, pp. 360, 443. As to
pariyodapeyya, see verse 183, and Lotus, pp. 523, 528; as to
akifiy^ano, see Mahabh. XII, 6568, 1240.
89. The elements of knowledge are the seven Sambodhyangas,
on which see Burnouf, Lotus, p. 796. D'Alwis explains them as
the thirty-seven Bodhipakkhiya-dhamma. Khiwasava, which I have
translated by ' they whose frailties have been conquered,' may also
be taken in a more metaphysical sense, as explained in the note to
V. 39. The same applies to the other terms occurring in this verse,
such as adana, anupadaya, &c. Dr. Fausboll seems inclined to
[10] f
26 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. VI.
ing to anything, rejoice in freedom from attachment,
whose appetites have been conquered, and who are
full of light, are free (even) in this world.
take asava in this passage, and in the other passages where it
occurs, as the Pah representative of ajraya. But a^raya, in Buddhist
phraseology, means rather the five organs of sense with manas,
' the soul,' and these are kept distinct from the asavas, ' the inclina-
tions, the appetites, passions, or vices.' The commentary on the
Abhidharma, when speaking of the Yoga^aras, says, ' En r^unissant
ensemble les receptacles (ajraya), les choses revues (a^rita) et les
supports (alambana), qui sont chacun composes de six termes, on a
dix-huit termes qu'on appelle " Dhatus " ou contenants. La col-
lection des six receptacles, ce sont les organes de la vue, de I'oui'e,
de I'odorat, du gout, du toucher, et le " manas " (ou I'organe du
coeur), qui est le dernier. La collection des six choses re9ues, c'est
la connaissance produite par la vue et par les autres sens jusqu'au
"manas" inclusivement. La collection des six supports, ce sont la
forme et les autres attributs sensibles jusqu'au " Dharma" (la loi ou
I'etre) inclusivement.' See Burnouf, Introduction, p. 449.
Parinibbuta is again a technical term, the Sanskrit parinivr/ta
meaning ' freed from all worldly fetters,' like vimukta. See Bur-
nouf, Introduction, p. 590. See Childers, s. v. nibbana, p. 270,
and Notes on Dhammapada, p. 3 ; and D'Alwis, Buddhist Nirvawa,
P- 75-
THE VENERABLE. 27
CHAPTER VII.
THE VENERABLE (aRHAt).
90. There is no suffering for him who has finished
his journey, and abandoned grief, wlio has freed him-
self on all sides, and thrown off all fetters.
91. They depart with their thoughts well-collected,
they are not happy in their abode ; like swans who
have left their lake, they leave their house and
home.
92. Men who have no riches, who live on recog-
nised food, who have perceived void and uncon-
ditioned freedom (Nirva/za), their path is difficult to
understand, like that of birds in the air.
91. Satimanto, Sanskrit smmimanta/z, ' possessed of memory,'
but here used in the technical sense of sati, the first of the Bodhyan-
gas. See Burnouf, Introduction, p. 797. Clough translates it by
' intense thought,' and this is the original meaning of smar, even
in Sanskrit. See Lectures on the Science of Language, vol. ii.
P- 332.
Uyyuyi^anti, which Buddhaghosa explains by ' they exert them-
selves,' seems to me to signify in this place ' they depart,' i. e.
they leave their family, and embrace an ascetic life. See note to
verse 235. See also Rhys Davids, Mahaparinibbana-sutta, Sacred
Books of the East, vol. xi. p. 22.
92. Smmato and animitto are adjectives belonging to vimokho,
one of the many names of Nirvawa, or, according to Childers, s. v.
nibbana, p. 270, Arhatship; see Burnouf, Litroducdon, pp. 442,
462, on i'iinya. The Sanskrit expression junyatanimittaprawihitam
occurs in L'enfant egar^, 5 a, 1. 4. Nimitta is cause in the most
general sense, i. e. what causes existence. The commentator ex-
plains it chiefly in a moral sense : Ragadinimittabhavena animitta»2,
tehi ka. vimuttan ti animitto vimokho, i. e. owing to the absence of
passion and other causes, without causation ; because freed from
f 2
28 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. VII.
93. He whose appetites are stilled, who is not
absorbed in enjoyment, who has perceived void and
unconditioned freedom (Nirva/za), his path is diffi-
cult to understand, like that of birds in the air.
94. The gods even envy him whose senses, like
horses well broken in by the driver, have been
subdued, who is free from pride, and free from
appetites.
95. Such a one who does his duty is tolerant like
the earth, like Indra's bolt ; he is like a lake without
mud ; no new births are in store for him.
96. His thought is quiet, quiet are his word and
deed, when he has obtained freedom by true know-
ledge, when he has thus become a quiet man.
these causes, therefore it is called freedom without causation. See
Childers, Pali Dictionary, p. 270, col. 2, line i.
The simile is intended to compare the ways of those who have
obtained spiritual freedom to the flight of birds, it being difficult
to understand how the birds move on without putting their feet on
anything. This, at least, is the explanation of the commentator.
The same metaphor occurs Mahabh. XII, 6763. Childers translates,
' leaving no more trace of existence than a bird in the air.'
95. Without the hints given by the commentator, we should
probably take the three similes of this verse in their natural sense,
as illustrating the imperturbable state of an Arahanta, or venerable
person. The earth is always represented as an emblem of patience;
the bolt of Indra, if taken in its technical sense, as the bolt of a
gate, might likewise suggest the idea of firmness ; while the lake is
a constant representative of serenity and purity. The commentator,
however, suggests that what is meant is, that the earth, though
flowers are cast on it, does not feel pleasure, nor the bolt of Indra
displeasui-e, although less savoury things are thrown upon it ; and
that in like manner a wise person is indiflferent to honour and dis-
honour.
96. That this very natural threefold division, thought, word, and
deed, the trividha-dvara or the three doors of the Buddhists (Hardy,
IManual, p. 494), was not peculiar to the Buddhists or unknown to
THE VENERABLE. 29
97. The man who is free from creduHty, but knows
the uncreated, who has cut all ties, removed all
temptations, renounced all desires, he is the greatest
of men.
the Brahmans, has been proved against Dr. Weber by Professor
Koppen in his 'Religion des Buddha,' I, p. 445. He particularly called
attention to Manu XII, 4-8 ; and he might have added Mahabh.
XII, 4059, 6512, 6549, 6554; XIII, 5677, &c. Dr. Weber has
himself afterwards brought forward a passage from the Atharva-
veda, VI, 96, 3 {yzk ^akshusha manasa ya/^ ka. va/^a uparima),
which, however, has a different meaning. A better one was quoted
by him from the Taitt. Ar. X, i, 12 (yan me manasa, va/ta, karmawa
va dusYikn'tam kr/tam). Similar expressions have been shown to
exist in the Zend-avesta, and among the Manichseans (Lassen,
Indische Alterthumskunde, III, p. 414; see also Boehtlingk's Dic-
tionary, s. V. kaya, and Childers, s. v. kayo). There was no ground,
therefore, for supposing that this formula had found its way into
the Christian liturgy from Persia, for, as Professor Cowell remarks
(Journal of Philology, vol. vii. p, 215), Greek writers, such as Plato,
employ very similar expressions, e.g. Protag. p. 348, 30, npos anav
f'pyov KoX Xoyov Koi diavorjiia. In fact, the Opposition between words
and deeds occurs in almost every writer, from Homer downwards ;
and the further distinction between thoughts and words is clearly
implied even in such expressions as, 'they say in their heart.' That
the idea of sin committed by thought was not a new idea, even to the
Jews, may be seen from Prov. xxiv. 9, ' the thought of foolishness
is sin.' In the Apastamba-sutras, lately edited by Professor Biihler,
we find the expression, atho yatki'fi/^'a manasa vaX'a X'akshusha va
safikalpayan dhyayaty ahabhivipa^yati va tathaiva tad bhavatityu-
padi^ranti, ' they say that whatever a Brahman intending with his
mind, voice, or eye, thinks, says, or looks, that will be.' This is
clearly a very different division, and it is the same which is intended
in the passage from the Atharva-veda, quoted above. In the mis-
chief done by the eye, we have, perhaps, the first indication of the
evil eye. (Mahabh. XII, 3417. See Dhammapada, vv. 231-234.)
On the technical meaning of tadi, see Childers, s.v. D'Alwis
(p. 78) has evidently received the right interpretation, but has not
understood it. Madma also is used very much like tadma, and
from it mariso, a venerable person, in Sanskrit marsha.
DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. VII.
98. In a hamlet or in a forest, in the deep water
or on the dry land, wherever venerable persons
(Arahanta) dwell, that place is delightful.
99. Forests are delightful ; where the world finds
no delight, there the passionless will find delight,
for they look not for pleasures.
THE THOUSANDS. 31
CHAPTER VIII.
THE THOUSANDS.
100. Even though a speech be a thousand (of
words), but made up of senseless words, one word
of sense is better, which if a man hears, he becomes
quiet.
loi. Even though a Gatha (poem) be a thousand
(of words), but made up of senseless words, one
word of a Gatha is better, which if a man hears, he
becomes quiet.
102. Though a man recite a hundred Gathas made
up of senseless words, one word of the law is better,
which if a man hears, he becomes quiet.
103. If one man conquer in battle a thousand
times thousand men, and if another conquer himself,
he is the greatest of conquerors.
104. 105. One's own self conquered is better than
all other people ; not even a god, a Gandharva, not
Mara with Brahman could change into defeat the
100. This Sahasravarga, or Chapter of the Thousands, is quoted
by that name in the ]\Iahavastu (Minayeff, Melanges Asiatiques, VI,
p. 583): Tesham Bhagavafi ^a/ilanaw Dharmapadeshu sahasra-
vargam bhashati : ' Sahasram api va-^anam anarthapadasa;«hitanam,
ekarthavati sveya yam jrutva upa^amyati. Sahasram api gathanam
anarthapadasawhitanam, ekarthavati jreya yaw^ j'rutva upa^amyati'
(MS. R. A. S. Lond.) Here the Pah text seems decidedly more
original and perfect.
104. G\ta?n, according to the commentator, stands for_§^ito (lin-
gavipallaso, i. e. viparyasa) ; see also Senart in Journal Asiatique,
1880, p. 500.
The Devas (gods), Gandharvas (fairies), and other fanciful beings
of the Brahmanic religion, such as the Nagas, Sarpas, GaiWas, &c.,
32 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. VIII.
victory of a man who has vanquished himself, and
always lives under restraint.
1 06. If a man for a hundred years sacrifice month
after month with a thousand, and if he but for one
moment pay homage to a man whose soul is grounded
(in true knowledge), better is that homage than a
sacrifice for a hundred years.
107. If a man for a hundred years worship Agni
(fire) in the forest, and if he but for one moment pay
homage to a man whose soul is grounded (in true
knowledge), better is that homage than sacrifice for
a hundred years.
108. Whatever a man sacrifice in this world as an
offering or as an oblation for a whole year in order to
gain merit, the whole of it is not worth a quarter (a
farthing) ; reverence shown to the righteous is better.
were allowed to continue in the traditional language of the people
who had embraced Buddhism. See the pertinent remarks of Burnouf,
Introduction, pp. 134 seq., 184. On Mara, the tempter, see v. 7.
Sastram Aiyar, On the G^aina Religion, p. xx, says : ' Moreover as
it is declared in the Gaina Vedas that all the gods worshipped by
the various Hindu sects, viz. -S'iva, Brahma, Vish«u, Ga«aj>ati,
Subramaniyan, and others, were devoted adherents of the above-
mentioned Tirthahkaras, the G^ainas therefore do not consider
them as unworthy of their worship ; but as they are servants of
Arugan, they consider them to be deities of their system, and
accordingly perform certain pii^as in honour of them, and worship
them also.' The case is more doubtful with orthodox Buddhists.
'Orthodox Buddhists,' as Mr. D'Alwis writes (Attanagalu-vansa,
p. 55), 'do not consider the worship of the Devas as being sanc-
tioned by him who disclaimed for himself and all the Devas any
power over man's soul. Yet the Buddhists are everywhere idol-
worshippers. Buddhism, however, acknowledges the existence of
some of the Hindu deities, and from the various friendly offices
which those Devas are said to have rendered to Gotama, Buddhists
evince a respect for their idols.' See also Buddhaghosha's Parables,
p. 162.
THE THOUSANDS. 33
109. He who always greets and constantly reveres
the aged, four things will increase to him, viz. life,
beauty, happiness, power.
no. But he who lives a hundred years, vicious
and unrestrained, a life of one day is better if a man
is virtuous and reflecting.
111. And he who lives a hundred years, ignorant
and unrestrained, a life of one day is better if a man
is wise and reflecting.
1 1 2. And he who lives a hundred years, idle and
weak, a life of one day is better if a man has attained
firm strenoth.
113. And he who lives a hundred years, not seeing
beginning and end, a life of one day is better if a
man sees beginning and end.
114. And he who lives a hundred years, not
seeing the immortal place, a life of one day is better
if a man sees the immortal place.
115. And he who lives a hundred years, not
seeing the highest law, a life of one day is better
if a man sees the highest law.
109. Dr. Fausboll, in a most important note, called attention to
the fact that the same verse, with slight variations, occurs in INIanu.
We there read, II, 121 :
Abhivadana^ilasya nitya^« vr/ddhopasevina^,
-^atvari sampravardhante ayur vidy^ yajo balam.
Here the four things are, life, knowledge, glory, power.
In the Apastamba-sutras, I, 2, 5, 15, the reward promised for
the same virtue is svargam ayus ^a, 'heaven and long life.' It
seems, therefore, as if the original idea of this verse came from the
Brahmans, and was afterwards adopted by the Buddhists. How
largely it spread is shown by Dr. Fausboll from the Asiatic Re-
searches, XX, p. 259, where the same verse of the Dhammapada
is mentioned as being in use among the Buddhists of Siam.
112. On kusito, see note to verse 7.
34 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. IX.
CHAPTER IX.
EVIL.
it6. If a man would hasten towards the good,
he should keep his thought away from evil ; if a
man does what is good slothfully, his mind delights
in evil,
117. If a man commits a sin, let him not do it
again ; let him not delight in sin : pain is the out-
come of evil.
118. If a man does what is good, let him do it
again ; let him delight in it : happiness is the out-
come of good.
119. Even an evil-doer sees happiness as long as
his evil deed has not ripened ; but when his evil
deed has ripened, then does the evil-doer see evil.
120. Even a good man sees evil days, as long as
his good deed has not ripened ; but when his good
deed has ripened, then does the good man see happy
days.
121. Let no man think lightly of evil, saying in
his heart. It will not come nigh unto me. Even by
the falling of water-drops a water-pot is filled ; the
fool becomes full of evil, even if he gather it little
by little.
122. Let no man think lightly of good, saying in
his heart. It w^ill not come nigh unto me. Even by
the falling of water-drops a water-pot is filled ; the
wise man becomes full of good, even if he gather it
little by little. ji<^^_ £n»
123. Let a man avoid evil deeds, as a merchant,
if he has few companions and carries much wealth,
EVIL. 35
avoids a dangerous road ; as a man who loves life
avoids poison.
124. He who has no wound on his hand, may
touch poison with his hand ; poison does not affect
one who has no wound ; nor is there evil for one
who does not commit evil.
125. If a man offend a harmless, pure, and inno-
cent person, the evil falls back upon that fool, like
light dust thrown up against the wind.
126. Some people are born again; evil-doers go
to hell ; righteous people go to heaven ; those who
are free from all worldly desires attain Nirva^^a.
127. Not in the sky, not in the midst of the sea,
not if we enter into the clefts of the mountains, is
there known a spot in the whole world where a
man might be freed from an evil deed.
128. Not in the sky, not in the midst of the sea,
not if we enter into the clefts of the mountains, is
there known a spot in the whole world where death
could not overcome (the mortal).
125. Cf. Suttanipata, V. 661 ; Indische Spriiche, 1582; Katha-
saritsagara, 49, 222.
126. For a description of hell and its long, yet not endless
sufferings, see Buddhaghosha's Parables, p. 132. The pleasures of
heaven, too, are frequently described in these Parables and else-
where. Buddha himself enjoyed these pleasures of heaven, before he
was born for the last time. It is probably when good and evil deeds
are equally balanced, that men are born again as human beings ;
{his, at least, is the opinion of the G^ainas. Cf. Chintamawi, ed.
H. Bower, Introd. p. xv.
127. Cf. St. Luke xii. 2, ' For there is nothing covered that shall
not be revealed;' and Psalm cxxxix. 8-12.
36 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. X.
CHAPTER X.
PUNISHMENT.
^ 129. All men tremble at punishment, all men fear
death ; remember that you are like unto them, and
do not kill, nor cause slaughter.
I T,o. All men tremble at punishment, all men love
life ; remember that thou art like unto them, and do
not kill, nor cause slaughter.
131. He who seeking his own happiness punishes
or kills beings who also long for happiness, will not
find happiness after death.
129. One feels tempted, no doubt, to take upama in the sense
of ' the nearest (der Nachste), the neighbour,' and to translate,
'having made oneself one's neighbour,' i.e. loving one's neighbour
as oneself. But as upamam, with a short a, is the correct accusadve
of upama, we must translate, ' having made oneself the likeness,
the image of others, having placed oneself in the place of others.'
This is an expression which occurs frequently in Sanskrit ; of.
Hitopadeja I, 1 1 :
Pra;?a yathatmano 'bhish/a bhutanam api te tatha,
Atmaupamyena bhuteshu daya/// kurvanti sadhava//.
*As life is dear to oneself, it is dear also to other living beings:
by comparing oneself with others, good people bestow pity on all
beings.'
See also Hit. I, 12; Ram. V, 23, 5, atmanam upama;« k/vtva
sveshu dareshu ramyatam, ' making oneself a likeness, i. e. putting
oneself in the position of other people, it is right to love none but
one's own wife.' Dr. FausboU has called attention to similar pas-
sages in the Mahabharata, XIII, 5569 seq.
130. Cf St. Luke vi. 31.
131. Dr. FausboU points out the striking similarity between this
verse and two verses occurring in Manu and the Mahabharata : —
PUNISHMENT.
"^132. He who seeking his own happiness does not
punish or kill beings who also long for happiness,
will find happiness after death.
133. Do not speak harshly to anybody; those
who are spoken to will answer thee in the same
way. Angry speech is painful, blows for blows will
touch thee.
134. If, like a shattered metal plate (gong), thou
utter not, then thou hast reached Nirva/^a; conten-
tion is not known to thee.
135. As a cowherd with his staff drives his cows
into the stable, so do Age and Death drive the life
of men.
136. A fool does not know when he commits his
evil deeds : but the wicked man burns by his own
deeds, as if burnt by fire.
137. He who inflicts pain on innocent and harm-
less persons, will soon come to one of these ten
states :
Manu V, 45 :
Yo 'hi;;/sakani bhutani hinasty atmasukhe-^'/^/;aya,
Sa gi'va.r?is -('a mn'tas /^aiva na kva/^it sukham edhate.
Mahabharata XIII, 5568 :
Ahi77zsakani bhutani dawa'ena vinihanti ya//,
Atmana,^ sukham \Ak/i-3.n sa pretya naiva sukhi bhavet.
If it were not for ahi7«sakani, in which Manu and the Mahabharata
agree, I should say that the verses in both were Sanskrit modifica-
tions of the Pali original. The verse in the Mahabharata presup-
poses the verse of the Dhammapada.
133. See Mahabharata XII, 4056.
134. See Childers, s.v. nibbana, p. 270, and s. v. ka;/2S0 ; D'AIwis,
Buddhist Nirva^/a, p. 35.
136. The metaphor of 'burning' for 'sutfering' is very
common in Buddhist literature. Everything burns, i. e. every-
thing suffers, was one of the first experiences of Buddha himself.
See V. 146.
38 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. X.
138. He will have cruel suffering, loss, injury of
the body, heavy affliction, or loss of mind,
139. Or a misfortune coming from the king, or
a fearful accusation, or loss of relations, or destruc-
tion of treasures,
140. Or lightning-fire will burn his houses ; and
when his body is destroyed, the fool will go to hell.
141. Not nakedness, not platted hair, not dirt, not
fasting, or lying on the earth, not rubbing with dust,
138. 'Cruel suffering' is explained by sisaroga, 'headache,' &c.
' Loss' is taken for loss of money. ' Injury of the body ' is held to
be the cutting off of the arm, and other limbs. ' Heavy afflictions '
are, again, various kinds of diseases.
139. Upasarga means 'accident, misfortune.' Dr. FausboU
translates ra^ato va upassaggam by ' fulgentis (lunae) defectionem ;'
Dr. Weber by ' Bestrafung vom Konig;' Beal by ' some govern-
mental difficulty.' Abbhakkhanam, Sanskrit abhyakhyanam, is a
heavy accusation for high treason, or similar offences. Beal trans-
lates, ' some false accusation.' The ' destruction of pleasures or
treasures' is explained by gold being changed to coals (see Buddha-
ghosha's Parables, p. 98 ; Thiessen, Kisagotami, p. 6), pearls to
cotton seed, corn to potsherds, and by men and cattle becoming
blind, lame, &c.
141. Cf. Hibbert Lectures, p. 355. Dr. FausboU has pointed out
that the same or a very similar verse occurs in a legend taken from
the Divyavadana, and translated by Burnouf (Introduction, p. 313
seq.) Burnouf translates the verse : ' Ce n'est ni la coutume de
marcher nu, ni les cheveux nattds, ni I'usage d'argile, ni le choix
des diverses especes d'aliments, ni I'habitude de coucher sur la
terre nue, ni la poussifere, ni la malpropretd, ni I'attention a fuir
I'abri d'un toit, qui sont capables de dissiper le trouble dans lequel
nous jettent les ddsirs non-satisfaits ; mais qu'un homme, maitre
de ses sens, calme, recueilli, chaste, dvitant de faire du mal a aucune
creature, accomplisse la Loi, et il sera, quoique pard d'ornements,
un Brahmane, un ^ramana, un Religieux.' See also Suttanipata,
V. 248.
Walking naked and the other things mentioned in our verse
are outward signs of a saintly life, and these Buddha rejects because
they do not calm the passions. Nakedness he seems to have
PUNISHMENT. 39
not sitting motionless, can purify a mortal who has
not overcome desires.
142. He who, though dressed in fine apparel,
exercises tranquillity, is quiet, subdued, restrained,
chaste, and has ceased to find fault with all other
beings, he indeed is a Brahma;^a, an ascetic (i"ra-
mana), a friar (bhikshu).
143. Is there in this world any man so restrained
by humility that he does not mind reproof, as a
well-trained horse the whip ?
144. Like a well-trained horse when touched by
rejected on other grounds too, if we may judge from the Suma-
gadha-avadana : ' A number of naked friars were assembled in the
house of the daughter of Anatha-pi«fi?ika. She called her daughter-
in-law, Sumagadha, and said, " Go and see those highly respectable
persons." Sumagadha, expecting to see some of the saints, like
»Sariputra, Maudgalyayana, and others, ran out full of joy. But
when she saw these friars with their hair like pigeon wings, covered
by nothing but dirt, offensive, and looking like demons, she became
sad. " Why are you sad?" said her mother-in-law. Sumagadha
replied, "O mother, if these are saints, what must sinners be like?"'
Burnouf (Introduction, p. 312) supposed that the (9ainas only,
and not the Buddhists, allowed nakedness. But the Gainas, too,
do not allow it universally. They are divided into two parties, the
-Svetambaras and Digambaras. The -Svetambaras, clad in white,
are the followers of Parjvanatha, and wear clothes. The Digam-
baras, i. e. sky-clad, disrobed, are followers of Mahavira, resident
chiefly in Southern India. At present they, too, wear clothing,
but not when eating. See Sastram Aiyar, p. xxi.
The ^a/a, or the hair platted and gathered up in a knot, was a
sign of a 6'aiva ascetic. The sitting modonless is one of the pos-
tures assumed by ascetics. Clough explains ukku/ika as ' the act
of sitting on the heels ;' Wilson gives for utka/ukasana, ' sitting on
the hams.' See Fausboll, note on verse 140.
142. As to dawf/anidhana, see Mahabh. XII, 6559, and Sutta-
nipata, v. 34.
143, 144. I am very doubtful as to the real meaning of these
verses. If their object is to show how reproof or punishment
40 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. X.
the whip, be ye active and lively, and by faith, by
virtue, by energy, by meditation, by discernment of
the law you will overcome this great pain (of reproof),
perfect in knowledge and in behaviour, and never
forgetful.
145. Well-makers lead the water (wherever they
like) ; fletchers bend the arrow ; carpenters bend
a log of wood ; good people fashion themselves.
should be borne, my translation would be right, though alpabodhati
in the sense of parvi facere is strange.
145. The same as verse 80. According to Fausboll and Subhuti
we ought to render the verses by, ' What man is there found on
earth so restrained by shame that he never provokes reproof, as a
good horse the whip ? ' See Childers, s. v. appabodhati.
OLD AGE. 41
CHAPTER XI.
OLD AGE.
146. How is there laughter, how is there joy, as
this world is always burning ? Why do you not
seek a light, ye who are surrounded by darkness ?
147. Look at this dressed-up lump, covered with
wounds, joined together, sickly, full of many thoughts,
which has no strength, no hold !
148. This body is wasted, full of sickness, and
frail ; this heap of corruption breaks to pieces, life
indeed ends in death.
148. Dr. Fausboll informs me that Childers proposed the emen-
dation mara??anta?« hi ^ivitara. The following extract from a letter,
addressed by Childers to Dr. Fausboll, will be read with interest : —
'As regards Dhp. v. 148, I have no doubt whatever. I quite agree
with you that the idea (mors est vita ejus) is a profound and noble
one, but the question is, Is the idea there? I think not. Marawaiw
tamhi ^ivita;;z is not Pali, I mean not a Pali construction, and
years ago even it grated on my ear as a harsh phrase. The reading
of your MSS. of the texts is nothing; your MSS. of Dhammapada
are very bad ones, and it is merely the vicious Sinhalese spelling of
bad MSS., like kammarataz'z for kammanta/«. But the comment sets
the question at rest at once, for it explains marawantaw by mara«a-
pariyosana;?;, which is exactly the same. I see there is one serious
difficulty left, that all your MSS. seem to have tamhi, and not
tarn hi ; but are you sure it is so ? There was a Dhammapada in
the India Office Library, and I had a great hunt for it a few days
ago, but to my deep disappointment it is missing. I do not agree
with you that the sentence " All Life is bounded by Death," is
trivial : it is a truism, but half the noblest passages in poetry are
truisms, and unless I greatly mistake, this very passage will be found
in many other literatures.'
Dr. Fausboll adds : —
'I have still the same doubt as before, because of all my
[10] g
42 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XT.
149. Those white bones, like gourds thrown away
in the autumn, what pleasure is there in looking at
them ?
150. After a stronghold has been made of the
bones, it is covered with flesh and blood, and there
dwell in it old age and death, pride and deceit.
151. The brilliant chariots of kings are destroyed,
the body also approaches destruction, but the virtue
of good people never approaches destruction, — thus
do the good say to the good.
152. A man who has learnt little, grows old like
an ox ; his flesh grows, but his knowledge does not
grow.
153. 154. Looking for the maker of this taber-
nacle, I shall have to run through a course of many
births, so long as I do not find (him) ; and painful is
birth again and again. But now, maker of the taber-
nacle, thou hast been seen ; thou shalt not make up
MSS. reading m2.va.n9.fn tamhi. I do not know the readings
of the London MSS. The explanation of the commentary does
not settle the question, as it may as well be considered an
explanation of my reading as of the reading which Childers
proposed. — V. Fausboll.'
149. In the Rudraya«avadana of the Divyavadana this verse
appears as,
Yanimany apariddhani vikshiptani diso disa./i,
Kapctavarwany asthini tani dr/sh/vaiha ka rati-^.
See Schiefner, M^l. Asiat. VIII, p. 589 ; Gataka, vol. i. p. 322.
150. The expression ma»/salohitalepanam is curiously like the
expression used in Manu VI, 76, maz'/sa^owitalepanam, and in
several passages of the Mahabharata, XII, 12462, 12053, ^s pointed
out by Dr. Fausboll.
153, 154. These two verses are famous among Buddhists, for
they are the words which the founder of Buddhism is supposed
to have uttered at the moment he attained to Buddhahood. (See
Spence Hardy, Manual, p. 180.) According to the Lalita-vistara,
however, the words uttered on that solemn occasion were those
OLD AGE. 43
this tabernacle again. All thy rafters are broken,
thy ridge-pole is sundered ; the mind, approaching
the Eternal (visankhara, nirvana), has attained to
the extinction of all desires.
quoted in the note to verse 39. In the commentary on the
Brahma^ala this verse is called the first speech of Buddha, his last
speech being the words in the Mahaparinibbana-sutta, ' Life is
subject to age ; strive in earnest.' The words used in the Maha-
parinibbana-sutta, Chap. IV, 2, ^atunnawz dhammanam ananubodha
appa/ivedha evam idaw digham addhanaw sandhavitaw sa7«saritaw
mamaw k' eva tumhakail- ka., answer to the anticipation expressed
in our verse.
The exact rendering of this verse has been much discussed, chiefly
by Mr. D'Alwis in the Attanugaluvansa, p. cxxviii, and again in his
Buddhist Nirvawa, p. 78 ; also by Childers, Notes on Dhammapada,
p. 4, and in his Dictionary. Gogerly translated : ' Through various
transmigrations I must travel, if I do not discover the builder whom
I seek.' Spence Hardy : ' Through many different births I have run
(to me not having found), seeking the architect of the desire-re-
sembHng house.' Fausboll : ' Multiplices generationis revolutiones
percurreram,non inveniens,domus (corporis) fabricatorem quaerens.'
And again (p. 322): 'Multarum generationum revolutio mihi sub-
eunda esset, nisi invenissem domus fabricatorem.' Childers: ' I have
run through the revolution of countless births, seeking the architect
of this dwelling and finding him not.' D'Alwis : ' Through transmi-
grations of numerous births have I run, not discovering, (though)
seeking the house-builder.' All depends on how we take sandha-
vissam, which Fausboll takes as a conditional, Childers, following
Trenckner, as an aorist, because the sense imperatively requires
an aorist. In either case, the dropping of the augment and the
doubling of the s are, however, irregular. Sandhavissam is the
regular form of the future, and as such I translate it, qualifying,
however, the future, by the participle present anibbisan, i, e. not
finding, and taking it in the sense of, if or so long as I do not find
the true cause of existence. I had formerly translated anibbisan,
as not resting (anirvii-an), but the commentator seems to authorise
the meaning of not finding (avindanto, alabhanto), and in that case
all the material difficulties of the verse seem to me to disappear.
' The maker of the tabernacle ' is explained as a poetical expres-
sion for the cause of new births, at least according to the views of
g2
44 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XI.
155. Men who have not observed proper disci-
pline, and have not gained treasure in their youth,
perish Hke old herons in a lake without fish.
156. Men who have not observed proper disci-
pline, and have not gained treasure in their youth,
lie, like broken bows, sighing after the past.
Buddha's followers, whatever his own views may have been. Bud-
dha had conquered Mara, the representative of worldly temptations,
the father of worldly desires, and as desires (taw^ha) are, by means
of upadana and bhava, the cause of ^ati, or 'birth,' the destruction of
desires and the conquest of Mara are nearly the same thing, though
expressed differently in the philosophical and legendary language
of the Buddhists. Tawha, ' thirst' or ' desire,' is mentioned as
serving in the army of Mara. (Lotus, p. 443.)
1 55. On ^/^ayanti, i. e. kshayanti, see Dr. Bollensen's learned
remarks, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenl. Gesellschaft, XVIII,
834, and Boehtlingk-Roth, s.v. ksha.
SELF. 45
CHAPTER XII.
SELF.
157. If a man hold himself dear, let him watch
himself carefully ; during one at least out of the
three watches a wise man should be watchful.
158. Let each man direct himself first to what is
proper, then let him teach others ; thus a wise man
will not suffer.
159. If a man make himself as he teaches others
to be, then, being himself well subdued, he may sub-
due (others) ; one's own self is indeed difficult to
subdue.
160. Self is the lord of self, w^ho else could be
the lord ? With self well subdued, a man finds a
lord such as few can find.
161. The evil done by oneself, self-begotten, self-
bred, crushes the foolish, as a diamond breaks a
precious stone.
162. He whose wickedness is very great brings
himself down to that state where his enemy wishes
him to be, as a creeper does with the tree which it
surrounds.
163. Bad deeds, and deeds hurtful to ourselves,
are easy to do ; what is beneficial and good, that is
very difficult to do.
157. The three watches of the night are meant for the three
stages of hfe. Cf. St. Mark xiii. 37, 'And what I say unto you,
I say unto all, Watch.'
158. Cf. G^ataka, vol. ii. p. 441.
161. The Chinese translation renders va^iram by ' steel drill.'
46 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XII.
164. The foolish man who scorns the rule of the
venerable (Arahat), of the elect (Ariya), of the vir-
tuous, and follows false doctrine, he bears fruit to
his own destruction, like the fruits of the Ka///^aka
reed.
165. By oneself the evil is done, by oneself one
suffers ; by oneself evil is left undone, by oneself
one is purified. Purity and impurity belong to one-
self, no one can purify another,
166. Let no one forget his own duty for the sake
of another's, however great ; let a man, after he has
discerned his own duty, be always attentive to his
duty.
164. The reed either dies after it has borne fruit, or is cut down
for the sake of its fruit.
'D\ilh\, Hterally ' view,' is used even by itself, Uke the Greek
'hairesis,' in the sense of heresy (see Burnouf, Lotus, p. 444). In
other places a distinction is made between xmkkh^dxtthx (vv. 167,
316) and sammadi/Mi (v. 319). If arahatawz ariyanara are used in
their technical sense, we should translate ' the reverend Arhats,' —
Arhat being the highest degree of the four orders of Ariyas, viz.
Srotaapanna, Sakadagamin, Anagamin, and Arhat. See note to
verse 178.
166, Attha, lit. 'object,' must here be taken in a moral sense,
as ' duty ' rather than as ' advantage.' Childers rendered it by
' spiritual good.' The story which Buddhaghosa tells of the Thera
Attadattha gives a clue to the origin of some of his parables, which
seem to have been invented to suit the text of the Dhammapada
rather than vice versa. A similar case occurs in the commentary
to verse 227.
THE WORLD. 47
CHAPTER XIII.
THE WORLD.
167. Do not follow the evil law! Do not live on
in thoughtlessness ! Do not follow false doctrine !
Be not a friend of the world.
168. Rouse thyself! do not be idle! Follow the
law of virtue! The virtuous rests in bliss in this
world and in the next.
169. Follow the law of virtue ; do not follow that
of sin. The virtuous rests in bliss in this world and
in the next.
1 70. Look upon the world as a bubble, look upon
it as a mirage : the king of death does not see him
who thus looks down upon the world.
171. Come, look at this glittering world, like unto
a royal chariot ; the foolish are immersed in it, but
the wise do not touch it.
172. He who formerly was reckless and after-
wards became sober, brightens up this world, like
the moon when freed from clouds.
173. He whose evil deeds are covered by good
deeds, brightens up this world, like the moon when
freed from clouds.
1 74. This world is dark, few only can see here ; a few
only go to heaven, like birds escaped from the net.
175. The swans go on the path of the sun, they
go through the ether by means of their miraculous
168, 169. See Rhys Davids, Buddhism, p. 65.
170. See Suttanipata, v. 11 18.
175. Hawsa may be meant for the bird, whether flamingo, or
swan, or ibis (see Hardy, Manual, p. 17), but it may also, I believe.
48 DHAMMAPADA- CHAP. XIII.
power ; the wise are led out of this world, when
they have conquered Mdra and his train.
176. If a man has transgressed one law, and
speaks lies, and scoffs at another world, there is no
evil he will not do.
177. The uncharitable do not go to the world of
the gods ; fools only do not praise liberality ; a wise
man rejoices in liberality, and through it becomes
blessed in the other world.
1 78. Better than sovereignty over the earth, better
than going to heaven, better than lordship over all
worlds, is the reward of the first step in holiness.
be taken in the sense of saint. As to iddhi, 'magical power,'
i.e. r/ddhi, see Burnouf, Lotus, p. 310; Spence Hardy, Manual,
pp. 498, 504 ; Legends, pp. 55, 177 ; and note to verse 254.
178. Sotapatti, the technical term for the first step in the path
that leads to Nirvana. There are four such steps, or stages, and on
entering each, a man receives a new title : —
(i) The 6'rotaapanna, lit. he who has got into the stream.
A man may have seven more births before he reaches the other
shore, i. e. Nirvawa.
(2) Sakn'dagamin, lit. he who comes back once, so called be-
cause, after having entered this stage, a man is born only once
more among men or gods. Childers shows that this involves really
two more births, one in the deva world, the other in the world of
men. Burnouf says the same, Introduction, p. 293.
(3) Anagamin, lit. he who does not come back, so called be-
cause, after this stage, a man cannot be born again in a lower
world, but can only be born into a Brahman worlds before he
reaches Nirvawa.
(4) Arhat, the venerable, the perfect, who has reached the highest
stage that can be reached, and from which Nirvawa is perceived
(sukkhavipassana, Lotus, p. 849). See Hardy, Eastern Monachism,
p. 280; Burnouf, Introduction, p. 209; Koppen, p. 398; D'Alwis,
Attanugaluvansa, p. cxxiv; Feer, Sutra en 42 articles, p. 6.
THE BUDDHA. 49
CHAPTER XIV.
THE BUDDHA (tHE AWAKENEd).
179. He whose conquest is not conquered again,
into whose conquest no one in this world enters, by
what track can you lead him, the Awakened, the
Omniscient, the trackless ?
180. He whom no desire with its snares and
poisons can lead astray, by what track can you
lead him, the Awakened, the Omniscient, the
trackless ?
181. Even the gods envy those who are awakened
and not forgetful, who are given to meditation, who
are wise, and who delight in the repose of retire-
ment (from the world).
182. Difficult (to obtain) is the conception of men,
difficult is the life of mortals, difficult is the hearing
of the True Law, difficult is the birth of the Awak-
ened (the attainment of Buddhahood).
179, 180. Buddha, the Awakened, is to be taken as an appella-
tive rather than as the proper name of the Buddha (see v. 183).
It means, anybody who has arrived at complete knowledge. Anan-
tago>^aram I take in the sense of, possessed of unlimited knowledge.
Apadam, which Dr. Fausboll takes as an epithet of Buddha and
translates by ' non investigabilis,' is translated ' trackless,' in order
to show the play on the word pada ; see Childers, s. v. The com-
mentator says : ' The man who is possessed of even a single one of
such conditions as raga, &c., him ye may lead forward ; but the
Buddha has not even one condition or basis of renewed existence,
and therefore by what track will you lead this unconditioned
Buddha?' Cf. Dhp. vv. 92, 420; and G^ataka, vol. i. pp. 79, 313.
182. Mr. Beal (Dhammapada, p. 1 10) states that this verse occurs
in the Sutra of the Forty-two Sections.
50 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XIV.
183. Not to commit any sin, to do good, and to
purify one's mind, that is the teaching of (all) the
Awakened.
184. The Awakened call patience the highest
penance, long-suffering the highest Nirva;?a ; for he
is not an anchorite (pravra^ita) who strikes others,
he is not an ascetic (^rama^^a) who insults others.
185. Not to blame, not to strike, to live restrained
under the law, to be moderate in eating, to sleep and
sit alone, and to dwell on the highest thoughts, —
this is the teaching of the Awakened.
183. This verse is again one of the most solemn verses among
the Buddhists. According to Csoma Korosi, it ought to follow
the famous Arya stanza, 'Ye dhamm^' (Lotus, p. 522), and serve
as its complement. But though this may be the case in Tibet, it
was not so originally. The same verse (ascribed to Kanakamuni)
occurs at the end of the Chinese translation of the Pratimoksha
(Beal, J. R. A. S. XIX, p. 473; Catena, p. 159); in the Tibetan
translation of the Gathasahgraha, v. 14 (Schiefner, M^l. Asiat.
VIII, pp. 568, 586 ; and Csoma Korosi, As. Res. XX, p. 79).
Burnouf has fully discussed the metre and meaning of our verse on
PP- 527) 528 of his ' Lotus.' He prefers sa/?'ittaparidamanam, which
Csoma translated by ' the mind must be brought under entire sub-
jection' (sva-^ittaparidamanam), and the late Dr. Mill by 'proprii
intellectus subjugatio.' But his own MS. of the Mahapadhana-sutta
gave likewise sa/^ittapariyodapanam, and this is no doubt the cor-
rect reading. (See D'Alwis, Attanugaluvansa, p. cxxix.) We
found pariyodappeya in verse 88, in the sense of purging oneself
from the troubles of thought. From the same verb, (pari) ava + dai,
we may derive the name Avadana, a legend, originally a pure and
virtuous act, an dpla-reia, afterwards a sacred story, and possibly a
story the hearing of which purifies the mind. See BoehtHngk-
Roth, s. V. avadana.
184. Childers, following the commentator, translates, 'Patience,
which is long-suffering, is the best devotion, the Buddhas declare
that Nirvana is the best (of things).'
185. Cf. Suttanipata, v. 337. Patimokkhe, 'under the law,' i.e.
according to the law, the law which leads to Moksha, or ' freedom.'
Pratimoksha is the title of the oldest collection of the moral laws
THE BUDDHA. 51
186. There is no satisfying lusts, even by a shower
of gold pieces ; he who knows that lusts have a short
taste and cause pain, he is wise ;
187. Even in heavenly pleasures he finds no satis-
faction, the disciple who is fully awakened delights
only in the destruction of all desires.
188. Men, driven by fear, go to many a refuge, to
mountains and forests, to groves and sacred trees.
189. But that is not a safe refuge, that is not the
best refuge ; a man is not delivered from all pains
after having gone to that refuge.
190. He who takes refuge with Buddha, the Law,
of the Buddhists (Burnouf, Introduction, p. 300 ; Bigandet, The
Life of Gaudama, p. 439; Rhys Davids, Buddhism, p. 162), and as
it was common both to the Southern and the Northern Buddhists,
patimokkhe in our passage may possibly be meant, as Professor
Weber suggests, as the tide of that very collection. The commen-
tator explains it by ^e///;akasila and patimokkhasila. Sayanasam
might stand for i'ayanajanam, see Mahabh. XII, 6684 ; but in Bud-
dhist literature it is intended for j-ayanasanam; see also Mahabh. XII,
9978, j'ayyasane. Fausboll now reads panta instead of patthan.
187. There is a curious similarity between this verse and verse
6503 (9919) of the ^'antiparva :
Ya/^ k2i kamasukha?^ loke, ya-^ k-A. divyam mahat sukham,
Tnsh^akshayasukhasyaite narhata/z shoa'axi/^ kalam.
' And whatever delight of love there is on earth, and whatever is
the great delight in heaven, they are not worth the sixteenth part
of the pleasure which springs from the destruction of all desires.'
The two verses 186, 187 are ascribed to king Mandhatrz", shortly
before his death (Mdl. Asiat.VIII, p. 471; see also Gataka, vol. ii.
P-II3)-
188-192. These verses occur in Sanskrit in the Pratiharyasutra,
translated by Burnouf, Introduction, pp. 162-189; see p. 186.
Burnouf translates rukkha>^'etyani by ' arbres consacr^s ; ' properly,
sacred shrines under or near a tree. See also Gataka, vol. i. p. 97.
190. Buddha, Dharma, and Safigha are called the Tri^arawa
(cf. Burnouf, Introd. p. 630). The four holy truths are the four
statements that there is pain in this world, that the source of
52 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XIV.
and the Church ; he who, with clear understanding,
sees the four holy truths : —
191. Viz. pain, the origin of pain, the destruction
of pain, and the eightfold holy way that leads to the
quieting of pain ; —
192. That is the safe refuge, that is the best
refuge ; having gone to that refuge, a man is deli-
vered from all pain.
193. A supernatural person (a Buddha) is not
easily found, he is not born everywhere. Wherever
such a sage is born, that race prospers.
194. Happy is the arising of the awakened,
happy is the teaching of the True Law, happy is
peace in the church, happy is the devotion of those
who are at peace.
195. 196. He who pays homage to those who
deserve homage, whether the awakened (Buddha)
or their disciples, those who have overcome the
host (of evils), and crossed the flood of sorrow, he
who pays homage to such as have found deliverance
and know no fear, his merit can never be measured
by anybody.
pain is desire, that desire can be annihilated, that there is a way
(shown by Buddha) by which the annihilation of all desires can be
achieved, and freedom be obtained. That way consists of eight
parts. (See Burnouf, Introduction, p. 630.) The eightfold way
forms the subject of Chapter XVIII. (See also Feer, Journal
As. 1870, p. 418, and Chips from a German Workshop, 2nd ed.
vol. i, p. 251 seq.)
HAPPINESS. 53
CHAPTER XV.
HAPPINESS.
197. Let us live happily then, not hating those
who hate us ! amongf men who hate us let us dwell
free from hatred !
198. Let us live happily then, free from ailments
among the ailing ! among men who are ailing let us
dwell free from ailments !
199. Let us live happily then, free from greed
among the greedy ! among men who are greedy let
us dwell free from greed !
200. Let us live happily then, though we call
nothing our own ! We shall be like the bright gods,
feeding on happiness !
201. Victory breeds hatred, for the conquered is
unhappy. He who has given up both victory and
defeat, he, the contented, is happy.
198. The ailment here meant is moral rather than physical.
Cf. Mahabh. XII, 9924, s3.mprzsa.nto niramaya-^; 9925, yo 'sau
prawantiko rogas tkm tn'shnam tyagatzh sukham.
200. The words placed in the mouth of the king of Videha,
while his residence Mithila was in flames, are curiously like our
verse; cf. Mahabh. XII, 9917,
Susukha»^ vata ^ivami yasya me nasti kijl^ana,
Mithilayam pradiptaya/w na me dahyati kinka.nz.
' I live happily, indeed, for I have nothing ; while Mithila is in
flames, nothing of mine is burning.' Cf. Muir, Religious Senti-
ments, p. 106.
The abhassara, i. e. abhasvara, ' the bright gods,' are frequently
mentioned. Cf. Burnouf, Introd. p. 611.
201. This verse is ascribed to Buddha, when he heard of the
defeat of A^atajatru by Prasena^it. It exists in the Northern or
54 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XV.
202. There is no fire like passion ; there is no
losing throw like hatred ; there is no pain like this
body ; there is no happiness higher than rest.
203. Hunger is the worst of diseases, the body
the greatest of pains ; if one knows this truly, that
is Nirva;2a, the highest happiness.
Sanskrit and in the Southern or Pali texts, i. e. in the Avadana-
jataka, in the Sawyutta-nikaya. See Feer, Comptes Rendus, 1871,
p. 44, and Journal As. 1880, p. 509. In the Avadana-,rataka, the
Sanskrit version is —
Gayo vairam prasavati, du/zkha/;; sete para^-ita-^
Upa^-anta/^ sukha;« sete hitva _§-ayapara^ayam.
202. I take kali in the sense of an unlucky die which makes a
player lose his game. A real simile seems wanted here, as in
verse 251, where, for the same reason, I translate graha by 'shark,'
not by ' captivitas,' as Dr. FausboU proposes. The same scholar
translates kali in our verse by ' peccatum.' If there is any ob-
jection to translating kali in Pali by ' unlucky die,' I should still
prefer to take it in the sense of the age of depravity, or the demon
of depravity. To judge from Abhidhanappadipika, 1106, kali was
used for para§-aya, i. e. loss at game, a losing throw, and occurs in
that sense again in verse 252. The Chinese translation has, ' there
is no distress (poison) worse than hate.' A similar verse occurs
Mahabh. ^Santip. 175, v. 35.
' Body ' for khandha is a free translation, but it is difficult to find
any other rendering. The Chinese translation also has ' body.'
According to the Buddhists each sentient being consists of five
khandhas (skandha), or aggregates, the organized body (rupa-
khandha) with its four internal capacities of sensation (vedana),
perception {ssingna.), conception (sa?;^skara), knowledge (vi^wana).
See Burnouf, Introd. pp. 589, 634; Lotus, p. 335.
203. Sa7«skara is the fourth of the five khandhas, but the com-
mentator takes it here, as well as in verse 255, for the five khandhas
together, in which case we can only translate it by ' body.' See
also verse 278. Childers proposes 'organic fife' (Notes on Dham-
mapada, p. i). There is, however, another saw^skara, that which
follows immediately upon avidya, ' ignorance,' as the second of the
nidanas, or ' causes of existence,' and this too might be called the
greatest pain, considering that it is the cause of birth, which is the
cause of all pain. Sawskara seems sometimes to have a different
HAPPINESS. 55
204. Health is the greatest of gifts, contented-
ness the best riches ; trust is the best of relation-
ships, Nirva;2a the highest happiness.
205. He who has tasted the sweetness of solitude
and tranquillity, is free from fear and free from sin,
while he tastes the sweetness of drinking in the
law.
206. The sight of the elect (Arya) is good, to live
with them is always happiness ; if a man does not
see fools, he will be truly happy.
207. He who walks in the company of fools suf-
fers a long way ; company with fools, as with an
enemy, is always painful ; ^^ompany with th£_wise is
pleasure, like meeting with kinsfolk.'"
208. Therefore, one ought to follow the wise, the
intelligent, the learned, the much enduring, the du-
tiful, the elect ; one ought to follow a good and wise
man, as the moon follows the path of the stars.
and less technical meaning, being used in the sense of conceptions,
plans, desires, as, for instance, in verse 368, where sankharana/;z
khayam is used much like ta/?ihakhaya. Again, in his comment on
verse 75, Buddhaghosa says, upadhiviveko sankharasahga«ika/??
vinodeti ; and again, upadhiviveko >^a nirupadhinaw puggalanara
visafikharagatanam.
For a similar sentiment, see Stanislas Julien, Les Avadanas, vol. i.
p. 40, ' Le corps est la plus grande source de souffrance,' &c.
I should say that the khandhas in verse 202 and the sahkharas in
verse 203 are nearly, if not quite, synonymous. I should prefer to
read giga.MM-pzram^ as a compound. Gigakkka, or as it is written
in one MS., diga/^/^/za (Sk. ^ghatsa), means not only ' hunger,' but
' appetite, desire.'
204. Childers translates, ' the best kinsman is a man you can trust.'
205. Cf. Suttanipata, v. 256.
208. I should like to read sukho ka. dhirasa/^ivaso.
56 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XVI.
CHAPTER XVI.
PLEASURE.
209. He who gives himself to vanity, and does
not give himself to meditation, forgetting the real
aim (of life) and grasping at pleasure, will in time
envy him who has exerted himself in meditation.
210. Let no man ever look for what is pleasant,
or what is unpleasant. Not to see what is pleasant
is pain, and it is pain to see what is unpleasant.
211. Let, therefore, no man love anything ; loss
of the beloved is evil. Those who love nothing,
and hate nothing, have no fetters.
2 1 2. From pleasure comes grief, from pleasure
comes fear ; he who is free from pleasure knows
neither grief nor fear.
213. From affection comes grief, from affection
comes fear ; he who is free from affection knows
neither grief nor fear.
214. From lust comes grief, from lust comes
fear ; he who is free from lust knows neither grief
nor fear.
215. From love comes grief, from love comes
fear ; he who is free from love knows neither grief
nor fear.
216. From greed comes grief, from greed comes
fear ; he who is free from greed knows neither grief
nor fear.
217. He who possesses virtue and intelligence,
214. See Beal, Catena, p. 200.
PLEASURE. 57
who is just, speaks the truth, and does what is his
own business, him the world will hold dear.
218. He in whom a desire for the Ineffable (Nir-
va;2a) has sprung up, who is satisfied in his mind,
and whose thoughts are not bewildered by love, he
is called tirdhva;;/srotas (carried upwards by the
stream).
219. Kinsmen, friends, and lovers salute a man
who has been long away, and returns safe from
afar.
220. In like manner his good works receive him
who has done good, and has grone from this world
to the other ; — as kinsmen receive a friend on his
return.
218. IJrdhva/?isrotas or uddhawsoto is the technical name for
one who has reached the world of the Av/Vhas (Aviha), and is pro-
ceeding to that of the AkanishMas (Akani///^a). This is the last
stage before he reaches the formless world, the Arupadhatu. (See
Buddhaghosha's Parables, p. 123; Burnouf, Introduction, p. 599.)
Originally urdhvawsrotas may have been used in a less technical
sense, meaning one who swims against the stream, and is not
carried away by the vulgar passions of the world.
[10] h
58 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XVII.
CHAPTER XVII.
ANGER.
221. Let a man leave anger, let him forsake pride,
let him overcome all bondage ! No sufferings befall
the man who is not attached to name and form, and
who calls nothing his own.
222. He who holds back rising anger like a rolling
chariot, him I call a real driver ; other people are
but holding the reins.
223. Let a man overcome anger by love, let him
overcome evil by good ; let him overcome the greedy
by liberality, the liar by truth !
224. Speak the truth, do not yield to anger ; give,
if thou art asked for little ; by these three steps
thou wilt go near the gods.
225. The sages who injure nobody, and who
always control their body, they will go to the un-
changeable place (Nirva;za), where, if they have
gone, they will suffer no more.
226. Those who are ever watchful, who study day
and night, and who strive after Nirva/^a, their pas-
sions will come to an end.
227. This is an old saying, O Atula, this is not
only of to-day : ' They blame him who sits silent,
221. 'Name and form' or 'mind and body' is the translation
of nama-rupa, the ninth of the Buddhist Nidanas. Cf. Burnouf,
Introduction, p. 501; see also Gogerly, Lecture on Buddhism, and
Bigandet, The Life of Gaudama, p. 454.
223. Mahabh. XII, 3550, asadhu/?i sadhuna ^ayet. Cf. Ten
Gatakas, ed. Fausboll, p. 5.
227. It appears from the commentary that porawam and a^^ata-
nain are neuters, referring to what happened formerly and what
ANGER. 59
they blame him who speaks much, they also blame
him who says little ; there is no one on earth who
is not blamed.
228. There never was, there never will be, nor is
there now, a man who is always blamed, or a man
who is always praised.
229. 230. But he whom those who discriminate
praise continually day after day, as without blemish,
wise, rich in knowledge and virtue, who would dare
to blame him, like a coin made of gold from the
6^ambu river ? Even the gods praise him, he is
praised even by Brahman.
231. Beware of bodily anger, and control thy
body ! Leave the sins of the body, and with thy
body practise virtue !
232. Beware of the anger of the tongue, and con-
trol thy tongue ! Leave the sins of the tongue, and
practise virtue with thy tongue!
233. Beware of the anger of the mind, and con-
trol thy mind ! Leave the sins of the mind, and
practise virtue with thy mind !
234. The wise who control their body, who con-
trol their tongue, the wise who control their mind,
are indeed well controlled.
happens to-day, and that they are not to be taken as adjectives
referring to asinam, &c. The commentator must have read atula
instead of atulani, and he explains it as the name of a pupil whom
Gautama addressed by that name. This may be so (see note to
verse 166); but atula may also be taken in the sense of incom-
parable (INIahabh, XIII, 1937), and in that case we ought to supply,
with Professor Weber, some such word as ' saw ' or ' saying,'
230. The Brahman worlds are higher that the Deva worlds as
the Brahman is higher than a Deva; see Hardy, Manual, p. 25;
Burnouf, Introduction, pp. 134, 184.
h 2
6o DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XVIII.
CHAPTER XVIII.
IMPURITY.
235. Thou art now like a sear leaf, the messen-
gers of death (Yama) have come near to thee ; thou
standest at the door of thy departure, and thou hast
no provision for thy journey.
236. Make thyself an island, work hard, be wise!
When thy impurities are blown away, and thou art
free from guilt, thou wilt enter into the heavenly
world of the elect (Ariya).
237. Thy life has come to an end, thou art come
near to death (Yama), there is no resting-place for
thee on the road, and thou hast no provision for
thy journey.
238. Make thyself an island, work hard, be wise 1
When thy impurities are blown away, and thou art
free from guilt, thou wilt not enter again into birth
and decay.
239. Let a wise man blow off the impurities of
his self, as a smith blows off the impurities of silver,
one by one, little by little, and from time to time.
240. As the impurity which springs from the iron,
235. Uyyoga seems to mean departure. See Buddhaghosa's
commentary on verse 152, p. 319, 1. i; Fausboll, Five Gatakas,
P- 35-
236. ' An island,' for a drowning man to save himself; (see verse
25.) Dipahkara is the name of one of the former Buddhas, and it
is also used as an appellative of the Buddha, but is always derived
from dipo, ' a lamp.'
239. This verse is the foundation of the thirty-fourth section of
the Sutra of the forty-two sections; see Beal, Catena, p. 201; Sutta-
nipata, v. 962.
IMPURITY. 6 1
when it springs from it, destroys it ; thus do a trans-
gressor's own works lead him to the evil path.
241. The taint of prayers is non-repetition; the
taint of houses, non-repair ; the taint of the body is
sloth ; the taint of a watchman, thoughtlessness.
242. Bad conduct is the taint of woman, greedi-
ness the taint of a benefactor ; tainted are all evil
ways, in this world and in the next.
243. But there is a taint worse than all taints, —
ignorance is the greatest taint. O mendicants !
throw off that taint, and become taintless !
244. Life is easy to live for a man who is without
shame, a crow hero, a mischief-maker, an insulting,
bold, and wretched fellow.
245. But life is hard to live for a modest man,
who always looks for what is pure, who is disinter-
ested, quiet, spotless, and intelligent.
246. He who destroys life, who speaks untruth,
who in this world takes what is not given him, who
goes to another man's wife ;
247. And the man who gives himself to drinking
intoxicating liquors, he, even in this world, digs up
his own root.
248. O man, know this, that the unrestrained are
in a bad state ; take care that greediness and vice
do not bring thee to grief for a long time !
244. Pakkhandin is identified by Dr. FausboU with praskandin,
one who jumps forward, insults, or, as Buddhaghosa explains it,
one who meddles with other people's business, an interloper. At
all events, it is a term of reproach, and, as it would seem, of theo-
logical reproach.
246. On the five principal commandments which are recapitu-
lated in verses 246 and 247, see Buddhaghosha's Parables, p. 153.
248. Cf. Mahabharata XII, 4055, yesham vriUis k,x sa;;zyata.
See also verse 307.
62 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XVIII.
249. The world gives according to their faith or
according to their pleasure : if a man frets about
the food and the drink given to others, he will find
no rest either by day or by night.
250. He in whom that feeling is destroyed, and
taken out with the very root, finds rest by day and
by night.
251. There is no fire like passion, there is no
shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there
is no torrent like greed.
252. The fault of others is easily perceived, but
that of oneself is difficult to perceive ; a man win-
nows his neighbour's faults like chaff, but his own
fault he hides, as a cheat hides the bad die from the
gambler.
253. If a man looks after the faults of others, and
is always inclined to be offended, his own passions
will grow, and he is far from the destruction of
passions.
254. There is no path through the air, a man
is not a Sama/^a by outward acts. The world
249. This verse has evidently regard to the feelings of the Bhik-
shus or mendicants who receive either much or little, and who are
exhorted not to be envious if others receive more than they them-
selves. Several of the Parables illustrate this feeling.
251. Dr. Fausboll translates gaho by ' captivitas,' Dr. Weber by
' fetter.' I take it in the same sense as graha in Manu VI, 78 ; and
Buddhaghosa does the same, though he assigns to graha a more
general meaning, viz. anything that seizes, whether an evil spirit
(yakkha), a serpent (a^agara), or a crocodile (kumbhila).
Greed or thirst is represented as a river in Lalita-vistara, ed.
Calc. p. 482, trish?ia-nadi tivega prajoshita me ^ilanasuryewa, ' the
wild river of thirst is dried up by the sun of my knowledge.'
252. See Childers, Notes, p. 7; St. Matthew vii. 3.
253. As to asava, 'appetite, passion,' see note to verse 39.
254. I have translated this verse very freely, and not in accord-
IMPURITY. 63
delights in vanity, the Tathagatas (the Buddhas)
are free from vanity,
255. There is no path through the air, a man
is not a Sama;^a by outward acts. No creatures
are eternal ; but the awakened (Buddha) are never
shaken.
ance with Buddhaghosa's commentary. Dr. Fausboll proposed to
translate, ' No one who is outside t e Buddhist community can
walk through the air, but only a Samawa;' and the same view is
taken by Professor Weber, though he arrives at it by a different
construction. Now it is perfectly true that the idea of magical powers
(r/ddhi) which enable saints to walk through the air, &c., occurs in
the Dhammapada, see v. 175, note. But the Dhammapada may
contain earlier and later verses, and in that case our verse might be
an early protest on the part of Buddha against the belief in such
miraculous powers. We know how Buddha himself protested
against his disciples being called upon to perform vulgar miracles.
' I command my disciples not to work miracles,' he said, ' but to
hide their good deeds, and to show their sins' (Burnouf, Introd.
p. 170). It would be in harmony with this sentiment if we trans-
lated our verse as I have done. As to bahira, I should take it in
the sense of 'external,' as opposed to adhyatmika, or 'internal;'
and the meaning would be, ' a Samawa is not a Sama?/a by out-
ward acts, but by his heart.' D'Alwis translates (p. 85) : ' There is
no footprint in the air ; there is not a Sama^za out of the pale of
the Buddhist community.'
Prapa?l/^a, which I have here translated by ' vanity,' seems to
include the whole host of human weaknesses ; cf. v. 196, where it is
explained by ta/;/hadi/Mimanapapa«vC'a ; in our verse by ta/^zhadisu
papaw/^esu: cf. Lalita-vistara, p. 564, analayawz nishprapaw-^am
anutpadam asambhavam (dharma/('akram). As to Tathagata, a
name of Buddha, cf. Burnouf, Introd. p. 75.
255. Sahkhara for saw/skara; cf. note to verse 203. Creature
does not, as Mr. D'Alwis (p. 69) supposes, involve the Christian
conception of creation.
64 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XIX.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE JUST.
256, 257. A man is not just if he carries a matter
by violence ; no, he who distinguishes both right
and wrong, who is learned and leads others, not by
violence, but by law and equity, and who is guarded
by the law and intelligent, he is called just.
258. A man is not learned because he talks much ;
he who is patient, free from hatred and fear, he is
called learned.
259. A man is not a supporter of the law because
he talks much ; even if a man has learnt little, but
sees the law bodily, he is a supporter of the law,
a man who never neglects the law.
260. A man is not an elder because his head is
grey ; his age may be ripe, but he is called ' Old-
in-vain.'
261. He in whom there is truth, virtue, love,
restraint, moderation, he who is free from impurity
and is wise, he is called an elder.
262. An envious, greedy, dishonest man does not
become respectable by means of much talking only,
or by the beauty of his complexion.
263. He in whom all this is destroyed, and taken
out with the very root, he, when freed from hatred
and wise, is called respectable.
259. Buddhaghosa here takes law (dhamma) in the sense of
the four great truths, see note to verse 190. Could dhamma»z
kayena passati mean, 'he observes the law in his acts?' Hardly,
if we compare expressions like dhamma^ vipassato, v. 373.
THE JUST. 65
264. Not by tonsure does an undisciplined man
who speaks falsehood become a Sama?^a ; can a
man be a Sama/^a who is still held captive by desire
and greediness ?
265. He who always quiets the evil, whether
small or large, he is called a Sama;2a (a quiet man),
because he has quieted all evil.
266. A man is not a mendicant (Bhikshu) simply
because he asks others for alms ; he who adopts
the whole law is a Bhikshu, not he who only begs.
267. He who is above good and evil, who is
chaste, who with knowledge passes through the
world, he indeed is called a Bhikshu.
268. 269. A man is not a Muni because he ob-
serves silence (mona, i. e. mauna), if he is foolish
265. This is a curious etymology, because it shows that at the
time when this verse was written, the original meaning of jrama«a
had been forgotten. 6'ramawa meant originally, in the language
of the Brahmans, a man who performed hard penances, from jram,
' to work hard,' &c. When it became the name of the Buddhist
ascetics, the language had changed, and jrama^a was pronounced
sama«a. Now there is another Sanskrit root, jam, ' to quiet,' which
in Pali becomes likewise sam, and from this root sam, ' to quiet,'
and not from sram, ' to tire,' did the popular etymology of the day
and the writer of our verse derive the title of the Buddhist priests.
The original form jramawa became known to the Greeks as Sap-
fjLai/ni, that of sama«a as Sa/iamlot ; the former through Megasthenes,
the latter through Bardesanes, 80-60 b.c. (See Lassen, Indische
Alterthumskunde, II, 700.) The Chinese Shamen and the Tun-
gusian Shamen come from the same source, though the latter has
sometimes been doubted. See Schott, Uber die doppelte Bedeutung
des Wortes Schamane, in the Philosophical Transactions of the
Berlin Academy, 1842, p. 463 seq.
266-270. The etymologies here given of the ordinary titles of
the followers of Buddha are entirely fanciful, and are curious only
as showing how the people who spoke Pali had lost the etymo-
logical consciousness of their language. A Bhikshu is a beggar,
66 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XIX.
and ignorant ; but the wise who, taking the balance,
chooses the good and avoids evil, he is a Muni,
and is a Muni thereby ; he who in this world
weiofhs both sides is called a Muni,
270. A man is not an elect (Ariya) because he
injures living creatures ; because he has pity on all
living creatures, therefore is a man called Ariya.
271. 272, Not only by discipline and vows, not
only by much learning, not by entering into a trance,
not by sleeping alone, do I earn the happiness of
release which no worldling can know. Bhikshu, be
not confident as long as thou hast not attained the
extinction of desires.
i. e. a Buddhist friar who has left his family and lives entirely on
alms. Muni is a sage, hence ^akya-muni, a name of Gautama.
Muni comes from man, ' to think,' and from muni comes mauna,
' silence.' Ariya, again, is the general name of those who embrace
a religious life. It meant originally ' respectable, noble.' In verse
270 it seems as if the writer wished to guard against deriving ariya
from ari, ' enemy.' See note to verse 22.
272. See Childers, Notes, p. 7.
THE WAY, 6"]
CHAPTER XX.
THE WAY.
273. The best of ways is the eightfold ; the best
of truths the four words ; the best of virtues
passionlessness ; the best of men he who has eyes
to see.
274. This is the way, there is no other that leads
to the purifying of intelligence. Go on this way !
Everything else is the deceit of Mara (the tempter).
275. If you go on this way, you will make an end
of pain ! The way was preached by me, when I had
understood the removal of the thorns (in the flesh).
276. You yourself must make an effort. The
Tathagatas (Buddhas) are only preachers. The
thoughtful who enter the way are freed from the
bondage of Mara.
277. 'All created things perish,' he who knows
and sees this becomes passive in pain ; this is the
way to purity.
273. The eightfold or eight-mem bered way is the technical term
for the way by which Nirva«a is attained. (See Burnouf, Lotus,
p. 519) This very way constitutes the fourth of the Four Truths,
or the four words of truth, viz. Du//kha, ' pain ;' Samudaya, ' origin ;'
Nirodha, 'destruction;' Marga, ' road.' (Lotus, p. 517.) See note
to verse 178. For another explanation of the Marga, or ' way,' see
Hardy, Eastern Monachism, p. 280.
274. The last line may mean, 'this way is the confusion of Mara,'
i. e. the discomfiture of Mara.
275. The jalyas, ' arrows or thorns,' are the joka^-alya, ' the arrows
of grief.' Buddha himself is called mahajalya-harta, ' the great
remover of thorns.' (Lalita-vistara, p. 550 ; Mahabh. XII, 5616.)
277. See v. 255.
68 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XX.
278. 'All created things are grief and pain,' he
who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain ;
this is the way that leads to purity.
279. 'All forms are unreal,' he who knows and
sees this becomes passive in pain ; this is the way
that leads to purity.
280. He who does not rouse himself when it is
time to rise, who, though young and strong, is full
of sloth, whose will and thought are weak, that lazy
and idle man will never find the way to knowledge.
_ 281. Watching his speech, well restrained in mind,
"let a man never commit any wrong with his body!
Let a man but keep these three roads of action clear,
and he will achieve the way which is taught by the
wise.
282. Through zeal knowledge is gotten, through
lack of zeal knowledge is lost ; let a man who knows
this double path of gain and loss thus place himself
that knowledge may grow.
'=r 283. Cut down the whole forest (of lust), not a
tree only ! Danger comes out of the forest (of lust).
When you have cut down both the forest (of lust)
and its undergrowth, then, Bhikshus, you will be
rid of the forest and free !
278. See V. 203.
279. Dhamma is here explained, like safikhara, as the five
khandha, i. e. as what constitutes a living body.
281. Cf. Beal, Catena, p. 159.
282. Bhuri was rightly translated ' intelligentia' by Dr. Fausboll.
Dr. Weber renders it by ' Gedeihen,' but the commentator distinctly
explains it as 'vast knowledge,' and in the technical sense the
word occurs after vidya and before medha, in the Lalita-vistara,
p. 541.
283. A pun, vana meaning both 'lust' and 'forest.' See some
mistaken remarks on this verse in D'Alwis, Nirvawa, p. 86, and
some good remarks in Childers, Notes, p. 7.
THE WAY. 69
284. So long as the love of man towards women,
even the smallest, is not destroyed, so long is his
mind in bondage, as the calf that drinks milk is to
its mother.
285. Cut out the love of self, like an autumn lotus,
with thy hand! Cherish the road of peace. Nir-
va;2a has been shown by Sugata (Buddha).
286. ' Here I shall dwell in the rain, here in winter
and summer,' thus the fool meditates, and does not
think of his death.
287. Death comes and carries off that man, praised
for his children and flocks, his mind distracted, as a
flood carries off a sleeping village.
288. Sons are no help, nor a father, nor relations ;
there is no help from kinsfolk for one whom death
has seized.
289. A wise and good man who knows the mean-
ing of this, should quickly clear the way that leads
to Nirva;2a.
285. Cf. G^ataka, vol. i. p. 183.
286. Antaraya, according to the commentator, ^ivitantaraya,
i. e. interitus, death. In Sanskrit, antarita is used in the sense of
' vanished' or ' perished.'
287. See notes to verse 47, Thiessen, Kisagotami, p. 11, and
Mahabh. XII, 9944, 6540.
70 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXI.
CHAPTER XXI.
MISCELLANEOUS.
290. If by leaving a small pleasure one sees a
great pleasure, let a wise man leave the small plea-
sure, and look to the great.
291. He who, by causing pain to others, wishes
to obtain pleasure for himself, he, entangled in the
bonds of hatred, will never be free from hatred.
292. What ought to be done is neglected, what
ought not to be done is done ; the desires of unruly,
thoughtless people are always increasing.
293. But they whose whole watchfulness is always
directed to their body, who do not follow what ought
not to be done, and who steadfastly do what ought
to be done, the desires of such watchful and wise
people will come to an end.
294. A true Brahma?^a goes scatheless, though he
have killed father and mother, and two valiant kings,
though he has destroyed a kingdom with all its
subjects.
295. A true Brahma7^a goes scatheless, though he
have killed father and mother, and two holy kings,
and an eminent man besides.
292. Cf. Beal, Catena, p. 264.
294, 295. These two verses are either meant to show that a
truly holy man who, by accident, commits all these crimes is guilt-
less, or they refer to some particular event in Buddha's history.
The commentator is so startled that he explains them allegorically.
Mr. D'Alwis is very indignant that I should have supposed Buddha
capable of pardoning patricide. ' Can it be believed,' he writes,
' that a Teacher, who held life, even the life of the minutest insect,
MISCELLANEOUS. 7 1
296. The disciples of Gotama (Buddha) are always
well awake, and their thoughts day and night are
always set on Buddha.
297. The disciples of Gotama are always well
awake, and their thoughts day and night are always
set on the law.
298. The disciples of Gotama are always well
awake, and their thoughts day and night are always
set on the church.
299. The disciples of Gotama are always well
awake, and their thoughts day and night are alwa}s
set on their body.
nay, even a living tree, in such high estimation as to prevent its
wanton destruction, has declared that the murder of a Brahmawa, to
whom he accorded reverence, along with his own Sangha,was blame-
less?' D'Ahvis, Nirvana, p. 88. Though something might be said in
reply, considering the antecedents of king A^ata^atru, the patron of
Buddha, and stories such as that quoted by the commentator on the
Dhammapada (Beal, I.e. p. i5o),or inDerWeise und derThor, p.306,
still these two verses are startKng, and I am not aware that Buddha
has himself drawn the conclusion, which has been drawn by others,
viz. that those who have reached the highest Sambodhi, and are in
fact no longer themselves, are outside the domain of good and bad,
and beyond the reach of guilt. Verses Hke 39 and 412 admit of a
different explanation. Still our verses being miscellaneous extracts,
might possibly have been taken from a work in which such an
opinion was advanced, and I find that Mr. Childers, no mean
admirer of Buddha, was not shocked by my explanation. * In my
judgment,' he says, ' this verse is intended to express in a forcible
manner the Buddhist doctrine that the Arhat cannot commit a
serious sin.' However, we have met before with far-fetched puns
in these verses, and it is not impossible that the native commen-
tators were right after all in seeing some puns or riddles in this
verse. D'Alwis, following the commentary, explains mother as
lust, father as pride, the two valiant kings as heretical systems,
and the realm as sensual pleasure, while veyyaggha is taken by
him for a place infested with the tigers of obstruction against
final beatitude. Some confirmation of this interpretation is sup-
72 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXI.
300. The disciples of Gotama are always well
awake, and their mind day and night always de-
lights in compassion.
301. The disciples of Gotama are always well
awake, and their mind day and night always de-
lights in meditation.
302. It is hard to leave the world (to become
a friar), it is hard to enjoy the world; hard is the
monastery, painful are the houses ; painful it is to
dwell with equals {to share everything in common),
and the itinerant mendicant is beset with pain.
Therefore let no man be an itinerant mendicant,
and he will not be beset with pain.
303. Whatever place a faithful, virtuous, cele-
brated, and wealthy man chooses, there he is re-
spected.
304. Good people shine from afar, like the snowy
plied by a passage in the tl:iird book of the Lahkavatara-sutra, as
quoted by Mr. Beal in his translation of the Dhammapada, Intro-
duction, p. 5. Here a stanza is quoted as having been recited by
Buddha, in expkination of a similar startling utterance which he
had made to Mahamati :
'Lust, or carnal desire, this is the Mother,
Ignorance, this is the Father,
The highest point of knowledge, this is Buddha,
All the kle^as, these are the Rahats,
The five skandhas, these are the Priests;
To commit the five unpardonable sins
Is to destroy these five
And yet not suffer the pains of hell.'
The Lahkavatara-sutra was translated into Chinese by Bodhiru^i
(508-511)5 when it was written is doubtful. See also Gataka,
vol. ii. p. 263.
302. This verse is difficult, and I give my translation as tentative
only. Childers (Notes, p. 11) does not remove the difficulties, and
I have been chiefly guided by the interpretation put on the verse
by the Chinese translator; Beal, Dhammapada, p. 137.
/
MISCELLANEOUS. 73
mountains ; bad people are not seen, like arrows
shot by night.
305. He alone who, without ceasing, practises the
duty of sitting alone and sleeping alone, he, sub-
duing himself, will rejoice in the destruction of all
desires alone, as if living in a forest.
305. I have translated this verse so as to bring it into something
like harmony with the preceding verses. Vanante, according to
a pun pointed out before (v. 283), means both 'in the end of a
forest,' and ' in the end of desires.'
[10]
74 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXII.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE DOWNWARD COURSE.
306. He who says what is not, goes to hell ; he
also who, having done a thing, says I have not done
it. After death both are equal, they are men with
evil deeds in the next world.
307. Many men whose shoulders are covered with
the yellow gown are ill-conditioned and unrestrained ;
such evil-doers by their evil deeds go to hell.
308. Better it would be to swallow a heated iron
ball, like flaring fire, than that a bad unrestrained
fellow should live on the charity of the land.
309. Four things does a wreckless man gain who
covets his neighbour's wife, — a bad reputation, an
uncomfortable bed, thirdly, punishment, and lastly,
hell.
306. I translate niraya, ' the exit, the downward course, the evil
path,' by 'hell,' because the meaning assigned to that ancient
mythological name by Christian writers comes so near to the
Buddhist idea of niraya, that it is difficult not to believe in some
actual contact between these two streams of thought. See also
Mahabh. XII, 7176. Cf. Gataka, vol. ii. p. 416; Suttanipata,
V. 660.
307, 308. These two verses are said to be taken from the Vinaya-
pi/aka I, 4, i; D'Alwis, Nirvawa, p. 29.
308. The charity of the land, i. e. the alms given, from a sense
of religious duty, to every mendicant that asks for it.
309, 310. The four things mentioned in verse 309 seem to be
repeated in verse 310. Therefore, apu7w~ialabha, 'bad fame,' is the
same in both : gati papika must be niraya ; daw^a must be ninda,
and rati thokika explains the anikamaseyyawz. Buddhaghosa
THE DOWNWARD COURSE. 75
310. There is bad reputation, and the evil way
(to hell), there is the short pleasure of the frightened
in the arms of the frightened, and the king imposes
heavy punishment ; therefore let no man think of
his neigrhbour's wife.
311. As a grass-blade, if badly grasped, cuts the
arm, badly-practised asceticism leads to hell.
312. An act carelessly performed, a broken vow,
and hesitating obedience to discipline, all this brings
no great reward.
313. If anything is to be done, let a man do it,
let him attack it vigorously ! A careless pilgrim
only scatters the dust of his passions more widely.
314. An evil deed is better left undone, for a
man repents of it afterwards ; a good deed is better
done, for having done it, one does not repent.
315. Like a well-guarded frontier fort, with de-
fences within and without, so let a man guard him-
self. Not a moment should escape, for they who
allow the right moment to pass, suffer pain when
they are in hell.
316. They who are ashamed of what they ought
not to be ashamed of, and are not ashamed of what
they ought to be ashamed of, such men, embracing
false doctrines, enter the evil path.
317. They who fear when they ought not to fear,
and fear not when they ought to fear, such men,
embracing false doctrines, enter the evil path.
takes the same view of the meaning of anikamase)7a, i. e. yatha
ikkh^Xx GV2im seyyam alabhitva. diV\\kkh\i2im parittakam eva kala»z
seyyaw labhati, ' not obtaining the rest as he wishes it, he obtains
it, as he does not wish it, for a short time only/
313. As to ra^a meaning 'dust' and 'passion,' see Buddha-
ghosha's Parables, pp. 65, 66.
i 2
76 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXII.
318. They who forbid when there is nothing to
be forbidden, and forbid not when there is some-
thing to be forbidden, such men, embracing false
doctrines, enter the evil path.
319. They who know what is forbidden as for-
bidden, and what is not forbidden as not forbidden,
such men, embracing the true doctrine, enter the
good path.
THE ELEPHANT. "]"]
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE ELEPHANT.
320. Silently shall I endure abuse as the elephant
in battle endures the arrow sent from the bow : for
the world is ill-natured.
321. They lead a tamed elephant to battle, the
king mounts a tamed elephant ; the tamed is the
best among men, he who silently endures abuse.
322. Mules are good, if tamed, and noble Sindhu
horses, and elephants with large tusks ; but he w^ho
tames himself is better still.
323. For with these animals does no man reach
the untrodden country (Nirva;^a), where a tamed
man goes on a tamed animal, viz. on his own well-
tamed self.
324. The elephant called Dhanapalaka, his tem-
ples running with sap, and difficult to hold, does not
eat a morsel when bound ; the elephant longs for
the elephant grove.
320. The elephant is with the Buddhists the emblem of endurance
and self-restraint. Thus Buddha himself is called Naga, ' the Ele-
phant' (Lal.Vist. p. 553), or Mahanaga, 'the great Elephant' (Lai.
Vist. p. 553), and in one passage (Lal.Vist. p. 554) the reason of
this name is given, by stating that Buddha was sudanta, ' well-
tamed,' like an elephant. He descended from heaven in the form
of an elephant to be born on earth.
Cf Manu VI, 47, ativadaz^^s titiksheta.
323. I read, as suggested by Dr. Fausboll, yath' attana sudan-
tena danto dantena ga^^/^ati' (cf verse 160). The India Office MS.
reads na hi etehi ///anehi gaK'//eya agata?;i disam, yath' attanaw
sudantena danto dantena ga^/^/mti. As to //^anehi instead of yanehi,
see verse 224,
78 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXIII.
325. If a man becomes fat and a great eater, if
he is sleepy and rolls himself about, that fool, like
a hog fed on wash, is born again and again.
326. This mind of mine went formerly wandering
about as it liked, as it listed, as it pleased ; but
I shall now hold it in thoroughly, as the rider who
holds the hook holds in the furious elephant.
327. Be not thoughtless, watch your thoughts !
Draw yourself out of the evil way, like an elephant
sunk in mud.
328. If a man find a prudent companion who walks
with him, is wise, and lives soberly, he may walk with
him, overcoming all dangers, happy, but considerate.
329. If a man find no prudent companion who
walks with him, is wise, and lives soberly, let him
walk alone, like a king who has left his conquered
country behind, — like an elephant in the forest.
330. It is better to live alone, there is no com-
panionship with a fool ; let a man walk alone, let
him commit no sin, with few wishes, like an ele-
phant in the forest.
326. Yoniso, i.e. yonua//, is rendered by Dr. Fausboll ' sapientia,'
and this is the meaning ascribed to yoni by many Buddhist authori-
ties. But the reference to HemaX'andra (ed. BoehtHngk and Rieu,
p. 281) shows clearly that it meant 'origin,' or 'cause.' Yoniso occurs
frequently as a mere adverb, meaning ' thoroughly, radically' (Dham-
mapada, p. 359), and yoniso manasikara (Dhammapada, p. no)
means ' taking to heart' or 'minding thoroughly,' or, what is nearly
the same, 'wisely.' In the Lalita-vistara, p. 41, the commentator has
clearly mistaken yoni^a/z, changing it to ye 'ni^^'O, and explaining it
by yamanij-am, whereas M. Foucaux has rightly translated it by
'depuis I'origine.' Professor Weber suspected in yoni-s-a^ a double
entendre, but even grammar would show that our author is
innocent of it. In Lalita-vistara, p. 544, 1. 4, ayonija occurs in
the sense of error.
328, 329. Cf. Suttanipata, vv. 44, 45.
THE ELEPHANT. 79
331. If an occasion arises, friends are pleasant;
enjoyment is pleasant, whatever be the cause ; a
good work is pleasant in the hour of death ; the
giving up of all grief is pleasant.
332. Pleasant in the world is the state of a mother,
pleasant the state of a father, pleasant the state of
a Sama?^a, pleasant the state of a Brahma^^a.
2,3^. Pleasant is virtue lasting to old age, pleasant
is a faith firmly rooted ; pleasant is attainment of
intelligence, pleasant is avoiding of sins.
332. The commentator throughout takes these words, like mat-
teyyata, &c., to signify, not the status of a mother, or maternity,
but reverence shown to a mother.
80' DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXIV.
A .
CHAPTER XXIV.
THIRST.
334. The thirst of a thoughtless man grows like
a creeper ; he runs from life to life, like a monkey
seeking fruit in the forest.
335. Whomsoever this fierce thirst overcomes,
full of poison, in this world, his sufferings increase
like the abounding Birana. grass.
336. He who overcomes this fierce thirst, difficult
to be conquered in this world, sufferings fall off from
him, like water-drops from a lotus leaf.
337. This salutary word I tell you, ' Do ye, as many
as are here assembled, dig up the root of thirst, as
he who wants the sweet-scented U^ira root must
dig up the Birana. grass, that Mara (the tempter)
may not crush you again and again, as the stream
crushes the reeds.'
338. As a tree, even though it has been cut down,
is firm so long as its root is safe, and grows again,
thus, unless the feeders of thirst are destroyed, this
pain (of life) will return again and again.
339. He whose thirst running towards pleasure
is exceeding strong in the thirty-six channels, the
334. This is explained by a story in the Chinese translation.
Beal, Dhammapada, p. 148.
335. Birawa grass is the Andropogon muricatum, and the
scented root of it is called U^ira (cf. verse 337).
338. On Anusaya, i. e. Anu^aya (Anlage), see Wassiljew, Der
Buddhismus, p. 240 seq.
339. The thirty-six channels, or passions, which are divided by
the commentator into eighteen external and eighteen internal, are
THIRST. 8 1
waves will carry away that misguided man, viz. his
desires which are set on passion.
340. The channels run everywhere, the creeper
(of passion) stands sprouting ; if you see the creeper
springing up, cut its root by means of knowledge.
341. A creature's pleasures are extravagant and
luxurious ; sunk in lust and looking for pleasure, men
undergo (again and again) birth and decay.
342. Men, driven on by thirst, run about like
a snared hare ; held in fetters and bonds, they
undergo pain for a long time, again and again.
343. Men, driven on by thirst, run about like a
snared hare ; let therefore the mendicant drive out
thirst, by striving after passionlessness for himself.
344. He who having got rid of the forest (of
lust) (i.e. after having reached Nirva;^a) gives him-
self over to forest-life (i.e. to lust), and who, when
removed from the forest (i. e. from lust), runs to the
forest (i. e. to lust), look at that man ! though free,
he runs into bondage.
explained by Burnouf (Lotus, p. 649), from a gloss of the G^ina-
alafikara : ' Vindication precise des affections dont un Buddha
acte independant, affections qui sont au nombre de dix-huit, nous
est fourni par la glose d'un livre appartenant aux Buddhistes de
Ceylan,' &c. Subhilti gives the right reading as manapassavana ;
cf. Childers, Notes, p. 12.
Vaha, which Dr. FausboU translates by ' equi,' may be vaha,
'undae.' Cf. Suttanipata, v. 1034.
344. This verse seems again full of puns, all connected with the
twofold meaning of vana, ' forest and lust/ By replacing ' forest '
by ' lust,' we may translate : ' He who, when free from lust, gives
himself up to lust, who, when removed from lust runs into lust,
look at that man,' &c. Nibbana, though with a short a, may be
intended to remind the hearer of Nibbana. The right reading is
nibbanatho ; see Childers, Notes, p. 8.
82 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXIV.
345. Wise people do not call that a strong fetter
which is made of iron, wood, or hemp ; far stronger
is the care for precious stones and rings, for sons
and a wife.
346. That fetter wise people call strong which
drags down, yields, but is difficult to undo ; after
having cut this at last, people leave the world, free
from cares, and leaving desires and pleasures behind.
347. Those who are slaves to passions, run down
with the stream (of desires), as a spider runs down
the web which he has made himself; when they
have cut this, at last, wise people leave the world,
free from cares, leaving;- all affection behind.
348. Give up what is before, give up what is
behind, give up what is in the middle, when thou
goest to the other shore of existence ; if thy mind
is altogether free, thou wilt not again enter into
birth and decay.
349. If a man is tossed about by doubts, full of
strong passions, and yearning only for what is de-
lightful, his thirst will grow more and more, and he
will indeed make his fetters strong.
350. If a man delights in quieting doubts, and,
always reflecting, dwells on what is not delightful
345. Apekha, apeksha, 'care;' see Manu VI, 41, 49 ; Suttani-
pata, V. 37; and (rataka, vol. ii. p. 140.
346. Paribba^, i.e. parivra^; see Manu VI, 41.
347. The commentator explains the simile of the spider as
follows : ' As a spider, after having made its thread-web, sits in
the middle, and after killing with a violent rush a butterfly or a fly
which has fallen in its circle, drinks its juice, returns, and sits
again in the same place, in the same manner creatures who are
given to passions, depraved by hatred, and maddened by wrath,
run along the stream of thirst which they have made themselves,
and cannot cross it,' Sec.
TPIIRST. 83
(the impurity of the body, &c.), he certainly will
remove, nay, he will cut the fetter of Mara.
351. He who has reached the consummation, who
does not tremble, who is without thirst and without
sin, he has broken all the thorns of life : this will be
his last body.
352. He who is without thirst and without affec-
tion, who understands the words and their interpre-
tation, who knows the order of letters (those which
are before and which are after), he has received his
last body, he is called the great sage, the great
man.
353. ' I have conquered all, I know all, in all con-
ditions of life I am free from taint ; I have left all,
and through the destruction of thirst I am free ;
having learnt myself, whom shall I teach ?'
354. The gift of the law exceeds all gifts ; the
sweetness of the law exceeds all sweetness ; the
delight in the law exceeds all delights ; the extinc-
tion of thirst overcomes all pain.
355. Pleasures destroy the foolish, if they look
not for the other shore ; the foolish by his thirst for
pleasures destroys himself, as if he were his own
enemy.
352. As to nirutti, and its technical meaning among the Bud-
dliists, see Burnouf, Lotus, p. 841. FausboU translates ' niruttis
vocabulorum peritus,' which may be right, if we take nirutti in the
sense of the language of the Scriptures. See note to verse 363.
Could not sannipata mean sawhita or sannikarsha ? Sannipata
occurs in the 6'akala-pratii-akhya, but with a different meaning.
353. Cf. Suttanipata, V. 210.
354. The dhammadana, or 'gift of the law,' is the technical
term for instruction in the Buddhist religion. See Buddhaghosha's
Parables, p. 160, where the story of the Sakkadevara^a is told,
and where a free rendering of our verse is given.
84 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXIV.
356. The fields are damaged by weeds, mankind
is damaged by passion : therefore a gift bestowed
on the passionless brings great reward.
357. The fields are damaged by weeds, mankind
is damaged by hatred : therefore a gift bestowed on
those who do not hate brings great reward.
358. The fields are damaged by weeds, mankind
is damaged by vanity : therefore a gift bestowed on
those who are free from vanity brings great reward.
359. The fields are damaged by weeds, mankind
is damaged by lust : therefore a gift bestowed on
those who are free from lust bring^s crreat reward.
THE BHIKSHU. 85
CHAPTER XXV.
THE BHIKSHU (mENDICANt).
360. Restraint in the eye is good, good is restraint
in the ear, in the nose restraint is good, good is re-
straint in the tongue.
361. In the body restraint is good, good is re-
straint in speech, in thought restraint is good, good
is restraint in all things. A Bhikshu, restrained in
all things, is freed from all pain.
362. He who controls his hand, he who controls
his feet, he who controls his speech, he who is well
controlled, he who delights inwardly, who is collected,
who is solitary and content, him they call Bhikshu.
363. The Bhikshu who controls his mouth, who
speaks wisely and calmly, who teaches the meaning
and the law, his word is sweet.
364. He who dwells in the law, delights in the
law, meditates on the law, follows the law, that
Bhikshu will never fall away from the true law.
365. Let him not despise what he has received,
363. On artha and dharma, see Stanislas Julien, Les Avadanas,
I, 217, note; 'Les quatre connaissances sont; i^ la connaissance
du sens (artha) ; 20 la connaissance de la Loi (dharma) ; 3° la con-
naissance des explications (niroukti) ; 40 la connaissance de I'intel-
ligence (pratibhana).'
364. The expression dhammaramo, 'having his garden or de-
light (Lustgarten) in the law,' is well matched by the Brahmanic
expression ekarama, i.e. nirdvandva (Mahabh. XIII, 1930). Cf.
Suttanipata, v. 326 ; Dhammapada, v. 32,
86 DIIAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXV.
nor ever envy others : a mendicant who envies
others does not obtain peace of mind.
366. A Bhikshu who, though he receives Httle,
does not despise what he has received, even the
gods will praise him, if his life is pure, and if he is
not slothful.
367. He who never identifies himself with name
and form, and does not grieve over what is no more,
he indeed is called a Bhikshu.
368. The Bhikshu who acts with kindness, who is
calm in the doctrine of Buddha, will reach the quiet
place (Nirva;2a), cessation of natural desires, and
happiness.
369. O Bhikshu, empty this boat ! if emptied, it
will go quickly ; having cut off passion and hatred,
thou wilt go to Nirva;^a.
370. Cut off the five (senses), leave the five, rise
above the five. A Bhikshu, who has escaped from
the five fetters, he is called Oghati;^;m, * saved from
the flood.'
371. Meditate, O Bhikshu, and be not heedless !
Do not direct thy thought to what gives pleasure,
that thou mayest not for thy heedlessness have to
swallow the iron ball (in hell), and that thou mayest
not cry out when burning, ' This is pain.'
367. Namariipa is here used again in its technical sense of
mind and body, neither of which, however, is with the Buddhists
atman, or * self.' Asat, ' what is not,' may therefore mean the same
as namarupa, or we may take it in the sense of what is no more,
as, for instance, the beauty or youth of the body, the vigour of the
mind, &c.
368. See Childers, Notes, p. 11.
371. The swallowing of hot iron balls is considered as a punish-
ment in hell; see verse 308. Professor Weber has perceived the
THE BHIKSHU. Sy
372. Without knowledge there Is no meditation,
without meditation there is no knowledge : he who
has knowledge and meditation is near unto Nirva^^a.
373. A Bhikshu who has entered his empty house,
and whose mind is tranquil, feels a more than human
delight when he sees the law clearly.
374. As soon as he has considered the origin and
destruction of the elements (khandha) of the body,
he finds happiness and joy which belong to those
who know the immortal (Nirva;2a).
375. And this is the beginning here for a wise
Bhikshu : watchfulness over the senses, contented-
ness, restraint under the law ; keep noble friends
whose life is pure, and who are not slothful.
376. Let him live in charity, let him be perfect
in his duties ; then in the fulness of delight he will
make an end of suffering.
377. As the Vassika plant sheds its withered
flowers, men should shed passion and hatred, O ye
Bhikshus !
378. The Bhikshu whose body and tongue and
mind are quieted, who is collected, and has rejected
the baits of the world, he is called quiet.
379. Rouse thyself by thyself, examine thyself by
thyself, thus self-protected and attentive wilt thou
live happily, O Bhikshu !
380. For self is the lord of self, self is the refuge
of self ; therefore curb thyself as the merchant curbs
a good horse.
right meaning of bhavassu, which can only be bhavayasva, but
I doubt whether the rest of his rendering is right, for who would
swallow an iron ball by accident ?
372. Cf. Beal, Catena, p. 247.
375. Cf. Suttanipata, v. 337.
DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXV.
381. The Bhikshu, full of delight, who is calm in
the doctrine of Buddha will reach the quiet place (Nir-
va;2a), cessation of natural desires, and happiness.
382. He who, even as a young Bhikshu, applies
himself to the doctrine of Buddha, brightens up this
world, like the moon when free from clouds.
381. See verse 368. D'Alwis translates, 'dissolution of the
sahkharas (elements of existence).'
THE BRAHMAiVA. 89
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE BRAHMAiVA (aRHAT).
T,S^. Stop the stream valiantly, drive away the
desires, O Brahma/^a! When you have understood
the destruction of all that was made, you will under-
stand that which was not made.
384. If the Brahma;za has reached the other shore
in both laws (in restraint and contemplation), all
bonds vanish from him who has obtained knowledge.
385. He for whom there is neither this nor that
shore, nor both, him, the fearless and unshackled,
I call indeed a Brahma^m.
386. He who is thoughtful, blameless, settled,
dutiful, without passions, and who has attained the
highest end, him I call indeed a Brahma/^a.
387. The sun is bright by day, the moon shines
by night, the warrior is bright in his armour, the
Brahma;?a is bright in his meditation ; but Buddha,
the Awakened, is bright with splendour day and
night.
388. Because a man is rid of evil, therefore he is
called Brahma^^a ; because he walks quietly, there-
fore he is called Sama;^a ; because he has sent away
his own impurities, therefore he is called Pravra^ita
(Pabba^ita, a pilgrim).
385. The exact meaning of the two shores is not quite clear,
and the commentator who takes them in the sense of internal and
external organs of sense, can hardly be right. See verse 86.
388. These would-be etymologies are again interesting as show-
ing the decline of the etymological life of the spoken language of
[10] k
90 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXVI.
389. No one should attack a Brahma;2a, but no
Brahnia;/a (if attacked) should let himself fly at his
aggressor! Woe to him who strikes a Brahma/^a,
more woe to him who flies at his aggressor !
390. It advantages a Brdhma^a not a little if he
holds his mind back from the pleasures of life ; when
all wish to injure has vanished, pain will cease.
391. Him I call indeed a Brahma^za who does
not offend by body, word, or thought, and is con-
trolled on these three points.
392. After a man has once understood the law
as taught by the Well-awakened (Buddha), let him
worship it carefully, as the Brahma/za worships the
sacrificial fire.
393. A man does not become a Brahma;^a by his
platted hair, by his family, or by birth ; in whom
there is truth and righteousness, he is blessed, he is
a Brahmawa.
394. What is the use of platted hair, O fool ! what
of the raiment of goat-skins ? Within thee there is
ravening, but the outside thou makest clean.
395. The man who wears dirty raiments, who is
India at the time when such etymologies became possible. In
order to derive Brahmawa from vah, it must have been pronounced
bahma;^o ; vah, ' to remove,' occurs frequently in the Buddhistical
Sanskrit. Cf. Lal.Vist. p. 551,1.1; 553, 1. 7. See note to verse 265.
390. I am afraid I have taken too much liberty with this verse.
Dr. Fausboll translates, ' Non Brahmawae hoc paulo melius, quando
retentio fit mentis a jucundis.'
393. Fausboll proposes to read^a^/^a (^atya). 'Both' in the first
edition of my translation was a misprint for ' birth.'
394. I have not copied the language of the Bible more than
I was justified in. The words are abbhantaran te ga.ha.mm, bahiraw
parima^^asi, ' interna est abyssus, externum mundas.' Cf. G'ataka,
vol. i. p. 481.
395. The expression Kisan dhamanisanthatam is the Sanskrit
THE BRAHMAiVA. 9 1
emaciated and covered with veins, who lives alone
in the forest, and meditates, him I call indeed a
Brahma;^a.
396. I do not call a man a Brahma;2a because of
his origin or of his mother. He is indeed arrogant,
and he is wealthy : but the poor, who is free from
all attachments, him I call indeed a Brdhma/^a.
397. Him I call indeed a Brahma;^a who has cut
all fetters, who never trembles, is independent and
unshackled.
398. Him I call indeed a Brihma;2a who has cut
the strap and the thong, the chain with all that per-
tains to it, who has burst the bar, and is awakened.
399. Him I call indeed a Brahma;^a who, though
he has committed no offence, endures reproach, bonds,
and stripes, who has endurance for his force, and
strength for his army.
400. Him I call indeed a Brahma/^a who is free
from anger, dutiful, virtuous, without appetite, who
is subdued, and has received his last body.
kn'szm dhamantsantatam, the frequent occurrence of which in the
Mahabharata has been pointed out by Boehtlingk, s. v. dhamani.
It looks more Hke a Brahmanic than like a Buddhist phrase.
396. From verse 396 to the first half of verse 423, the text of
the Dhammapada agrees with the text of the VasisliMa-Bharadva^a-
sutra. These verses are translated by D'Alwis in his Nirvawa,
pp. 113-118, and again by Fausboll, Suttanipata, v. 620 seq.
The text contains puns on k\nka.ndi, which means ' wealth,' but
also 'attachment;' cf Childers, s. v.
398. D'Alwis points out a double entendre in these words.
Nandhi may be either the strap that goes round a drum, or en-
mity; varatta may be either a thong or attachment; sandana
either chain or scepticism; sahanakkamam either due order or
all its concomitants ; paligha either bar or ignorance.
399. The exact meaning of balanika is difficult to find. Does
it mean, possessed of a strong army, or facing a force, or leading
a force ?
k 2
92 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXVI.
401. Him I call indeed a Brahma;za who does
not cling to pleasures, like water on a lotus leaf, like
a mustard seed on the point of a needle.
402. Him I call indeed a Brahma;^a who, even
here, knows the end of his suffering, has put down
his burden, and is unshackled.
403. Him I call indeed a Brahma;/a whose know-
ledge is deep, who possesses wisdom, who knows
the right way and the wrong, and has attained the
highest end.
404. Him I call indeed a Brahma/za who keeps
aloof both from laymen and from mendicants, who
frequents no houses, and has but few desires.
405. Him I call indeed a Brahma/2a who finds no
fault with other beings, whether feeble or strong,
and does not kill nor cause slaughter.
406. Him I call indeed a Brahma/^a who is tole-
rant with the intolerant, mild with fault-finders, and
free from passion among the passionate.
407. Him I call indeed a Brahma;^a from whom
anger and hatred, pride and envy have dropt like
a mustard seed from the point of a needle.
408. Him I call indeed a Brahma;/a who utters
true speech, instructive and free from harshness, so
that he offend no one.
409. Him I call indeed a Brahma;2a who takes
nothing in the world that is not given him, be it
long or short, small or large, good or bad.
410. Him I call indeed a Brahma;^a who fosters
no desires for this world or for the next, has no incli-
nations, and is unshackled.
405. On tasa and thavara, see Childers, s. v., and D'Alwis, Nir-
vawa, p. 115. On da«</a, 'the rod,' see Hibbert Lectures, p. 355,
note.
THE BRAHMAiVA. 93
411. Him I call indeed a Brahma/za who has no
interests, and when he has understood (the truth),
does not say How, how ? and who has reached the
depth of the Immortal.
412. Him I call indeed a Brahma;/a who in this
world is above good and evil, above the bondage of
both, free from grief, from sin, and from impurity,
413. Him I call indeed a Brahma^^a who is bright
like the moon, pure, serene, undisturbed, and in
whom all gaiety is extinct.
414. Him I call indeed a Brahma?2a who has tra-
versed this miry road, the impassable world and its
vanity, who has gone through, and reached the other
shore, is thoughtful, guileless, free from doubts, free
from attachment, and content.
415. Him I call indeed a Brahma;/a who in this
world, leaving all desires, travels about without a
home, and in whom all concupiscence is extinct.
416. Him I call indeed a Brahma;^a who, leaving
all longings, travels about without a home, and in
whom all covetousness is extinct.
417. Him I call indeed a Brahma;^a who, after
leaving all bondage to men, has risen above all
411. Akathahkathi is explained by Buddhaghosa as meaning,
' free from doubt or hesitation.' He also uses kathafikatha in the
sense of ' doubt' (verse 414). In the Kavyadarja, III, 17, the com-
mentator explains akatham by katharahitam, nirvivadam, which
would mean, ' without a katha, a speech, a story without contra-
diction, unconditionally.' From our passage, however, it seems as
if kathafikatha was a noun derived from kathahkathayati, ' to say
How, how?' so that neither the first nor the second element had
anything to do with kath, 'to relate;' and in that case akatham,
too, ought to be taken in the sense of ' without a Why.'
412. See verse 39. The distinction between good and evil
vanishes when a man has retired from the world, and has ceased
to act, longing only for deliverance.
94 DHAMMAPADA. CHAP. XXVI.
bondage to the gods, and is free from all and every
bondage.
418. Him I call indeed a Brahma^^a who has left
what gives pleasure and what gives pain, who is
cold, and free from all germs (of renewed life), the
hero who has conquered all the worlds.
419. Him I call indeed a Brahma;^a who knows
the destruction and the return of beings everywhere,
who is free from bondage, welfaring (Sugata), and
awakened (Buddha).
418. Upadhi, if not used in a technical sense, is best trans-
lated by ' passions or affections.' Technically there are four upadhis
or substrata, viz. the kandhas, kama, ' desire,' kilesa, ' sin,' and
kamma, ' work.' The Brahmawa may be called nirupadhi, as being
free from desire, misery, and work and its consequences, but not
yet of the kandhas, which end through death only. The com-
mentator explains nirupadhi by nirupakkilesa,/ free from sin.' See
Childers, s. v. nibbana, p. 268 a.
419. Sugata is one of those many words in Buddhist Hterature
which it is almost impossible to translate, because they have been
taken in so many acceptations by the Buddhists themselves.
Sugata etymologically means 'one who has fared well,' sugati
means 'happiness and blessedness.' It is wrong to translate it
literally by 'welcome,' for that in Sanskrit is svagata; and we
cannot accept Dr. Eitel's statement (Handbook, p. 138) that
sugata stands incorrectly for svagata. Sugata is one of the
not very numerous technical terms in Buddhism for which hitherto
we know of no antecedents in earlier Brahmanism. It may have
been used in the sense of ' happy and blessed,' but it never became
a title, while in Buddhism it has become, not only a title, but
almost a proper name of Buddha. The same applies to tatha-
gata, lit. 'thus come,' but used in Sanskrit very much like
tathavidha, in the sense of talis, while in Buddhism it means
a Buddha. There are of course many interpretations of the word,
and many reasons are given why Buddhas should be called
Tathagata (Burnouf, Introduction, p. 75, &c.) Boehthngk s. v.
supposed that, because Buddha had so many predicates, he was,
for the sake of brevity, called ' such a one as he really is.' I think
we may go a step further. Another word, tadrzja, meaning
THE BRAHMAA^A. 95
420. Him I call indeed a Brahma;2a whose path
the gods do not know, nor spirits (Gandharvas),
nor men, whose passions are extinct, and who is
an Arhat (venerable).
421. Him I call indeed a Brahmawa who calls
nothing his own, whether it be before, behind, or
between, who is poor, and free from the love of the
world.
422. Him I call indeed a Brahma;2a, the manly,
the noble, the hero, the great sage, the conqueror,
the impassible, the accomplished, the awakened.
423. Him I call indeed a Brahma^^a who knows
his former abodes, who sees heaven and hell, has
reached the end of births, is perfect in knowledge,
a sage, and whose perfections are all perfect.
talis, becomes in Pali, under the form of tadi, a name of
Buddha's disciples, and afterwards of Buddha himself. If applied
to Buddha's disciples, it may have meant originally ' such as he,' i. e.
his fellows ; but when applied to Buddha himself, it can only mean
'such a one,' i.e. 'so great a man.' The Sanskrit marsha is
probably the Pali mariso, which stands for madiso, Sk. madr/.fa,
' hke me,' used in Pali when a superior addresses others as his
equals, and afterwards changed into a mere title of respect.
INDEX.
The figures of this Index refer to the numbers of the verses.
Abhasvara, gods, 200.
Agni, worshipped, 107, 392.
A^atajatru, defeated by Prasena^it,
201.
Akanish//6as, 218.
Akiw/^ana, 87.
Akko^k/A, I.
Amata (am/-/ta), the immortal (Nir-
vana), 21.
Animitta, 92, 93.
Anivejana, 40.
Anujaya, foundation, root, 338.
Apastamba, Dharma-sutra, 39, 96,
109,
Appamadavagga, 21.
Arahantavagga, 90.
Arahat, and Ariya, 164.
Ariya, the elect, 22, 79.
— etymology of, 270.
Artha and dharma, 363.
Arupadhatu, 218.
Asava, asrava, 253.
Asava, khi«asava, 89.
Asrava, 39. See Asava.
Ajoka, 21.
Ajraya, 89.
Atharva-veda, 96.
Attavagga, 157.
Atula, 227.
Avadana, legend, etymology of, 183.
Avasa, monastery, 72, 302.
Avassuta, 39.
Avr/ha, 218.
Balavagga, 60.
Bee, emblem of a sage, 49.
Bhikkhuvagga, 360.
Bhikshu, a mendicant, 31, 32, 72, 75,
266, 267.
Bhikshu, different from Sramana. and
Brahmawa, 142.
Bhovadi, arrogant, addressing vener-
able people by bho ! 396.
[10]
Bhuri, knowledge, 282.
Bodhiru/^i (508-511 A.D.), 294.
Bodhyanga. See Sambodhyanga, 89.
Brahmajalasutta, 153.
Brahman, above the gods, 230.
Brahman, with Mara, 105.
Brahmawa, with 5rama«a and Bhik-
shu, 142.
Brahma«a, etymology of, 388.
Brahma«avagga, 383.
Buddha's last words, 153, 154.
— commandments, 183, 185.
Buddhavagga, 179.
Convent (avasa), 73, 302.
Dah, to burn, not sah, 31.
DaWanidhana, 142, 405.
Daw^avagga, 129.
Death, its dominion, 86.
— king of, 170.
Dhamma, plur., forms, things, 279.
Dhamma, plur., three of the five khan-
dhas, vedana, sa;7/7a, and safi-
khara, i.
Dhammadana, 354.
Dhammatthavagga, 256.
Dhanapalaka, 324.
Dharma, explained, i.
Dhatu, eighteen, 89.
Digambaras (Gainas, followers of
Mahavira), 141.
Dipa, island (arhatship), 25, 26.
Dipa, dvipa, island, 236, 238.
Dipaiikara, 236, 238.
Dipavawsa, 21.
Disciple (sekha), 45.
D\tt/A, drishn, heresy, 164.
Divyavadana, 141, 149.
Drinking, 247.
Eightfold, the way, 191, 273.
Elephant, Buddha, 320.
1
98
DHAMMAPADA.
Fetters of life, 345, 346, 350.
Fire, worshipped by Brahmans, 107,
392.
Flowers, with and without scent, 51,
52.
Four truths, 190, 273.
Gandharva, 104.
Gatha, loi.
Gathasangraha, 183,
Gods, 94, 200.
Gold pieces, 186, 230 (nekkha).
Good and evil bear fruit, 119-122.
Gotama, 296.
Graha, gaha, 251.
Gainas, 104, 141.
Gambu river, gold of it, 230.
Garavagga, 146.
Gataka, 9, 33, 35-39, 72, i49, 158,
179, 187, 285, 294, 306, 345.
Ga;a, sign of 5aiva ascetic, 141.
Hair, platted, of Brahmans, 393, 394-
Hatred, how it ceases, 3, 4.
— ceases by love, 5.
Hitopadeja, 129.
Immortal place, 114.
Immortality and death, 21.
Indra's bolt, 95.
Island (dipa), 25, 26.
Kakajura, 244.
Kali, unlucky die, 202.
Kalya«amitra, 78.
Kanakamuni, 183.
Kasava, kashaya, yellow dress, 9.
Kathasaritsagara, 125.
Kavyadarja, 411.
Kiliw/Ai, klish/a, 15.
KisagotamT, 45.
Kodhavagga, 221.
Kuja, grass, 311.
Kuja grass, for eating with, 70.
A'ittavagga, 33.
Lalita-vistara, 39, 44, 46, 153, 251,
2^54, 275, 282, 320, 326, 388.
Lankavatara-sutra, 294.
Lily (lotus), its purity, 58, 59,
Lokavagga, 167.
Lotus leaf, water on it, 401,
Made and not made, 383.
Maggavagga, 273.
Maghavan, Indra, 30.
Mahabharata, 9, 44, 87, 92, 96, 129,
1315133,142,150,185,187,1985
200,202, 223, 227, 248, 275, 287,
306, 364, 395.
INIahaparinibbana-sutta, 39, 153.
Mahavawsa, 21.
Mahavastu, quotes Dharmapada, and
Sahasravarga, 100,
Mahavira, 141.
Malavagga, 235.
Mallika, 54.
Mandhat/v, 185.
INIanu, laws, 71, 96, 109, 131, 150,
251, 320, 345, 346.
INIara, the tempter, 7, 8, 34, 37, 40,
46, 57, 105, 175, 274, 276, 337,
350.
iNIilk, turning suddenly, 71.
jMiracles, Buddha's view of, 254.
jNIithila, 200.
Muni, etymology of, 268, 269.
Mustard seed, on a needle, 401, 407.
Nagavagga, 320,
Nakedness, 141.
Namarupa, mind and body, 221, 367.
Nibbuta, nirvr/ta, freed, 89.
Niraya, hell, 306.
Nirayavagga, 306.
Nirukti, 363.
Nirva«a, 23, 32, 75, 126, 134, 184,
203, 204, 218, 225, 226, 285,
289, 323, 368, 372, 374.
Nishkashaya, free from impurity,
play on word, 9.
Old-in-vain, 260.
Overcome evil by good, 223.
Paki««akavagga, 290.
Pakkhandin, praskandin, 244.
PaWitavagga, 76.
Papavagga, 116.
Paragamin, 85.
Pare, 01 ttoAXoi, 6.
Parjvanatha, 141.
Path, the evil and the good, 17, 18,
316-319.
Patricide, 294.
Piyavagga, 209.
Platted hair, 141.
Prapa/z^a, 254.
Prasena_g-it, defeated by A^atajatru,
INDEX.
99
Pratibhana, 363.
Pratimoksha, 183, 185.
Pravra^, 83.
Pravra^ita, etymology of, 388,
Proverbs, 96.
Puns, 283, 294, 295, 305.
Pupphavagga, 44.
Ra^a, dust, passion, 313.
Ramayawa, 129.
Sacrifice, wortliless, 106.
Sahassavagga, quoted in Mahavastu,
100.
Sahita=:Tipi/aka, 19.
St. Luke, 130.
St. Matthew, 252.
St. Mark, 157.
Sama«a, etymology of, 265.
Sama;7/?a, priesthood, 20.
Sambodhyahga, 89.
Saw/sara, 60.
Sawskara, conception, 202.
— the five skandhas, 202.
Sawyutta-nikaya, 69.
Sanatsu^atiya, 21.
Sankhara, creature, 255.
Sankhata, 70.
Siiflgtid, perception, 202.
Sara, truth, reality, 1 1 .
Sati, smnti, intense thought, 91.
Sayanasanam, jayanasanam, 185.
Self, lord of self, 160, 165.
Seven elements of knowledge, 89.
Shore, the other, 85, 384.
— the two shores, 385.
Sindhu horses, 322.
Skandha, body, 202.
Snowy mountains, 304.
Spider, 347.
Spoon, perceives no taste, 64.
Sugata, Buddha, 285,419 (welfaring).
Sukhavagga, 197.
Suttanipata, 20, 61, 87, 125, 141, 142,
170, 185, 205, 239, 306, 328,
339, 345, 353, 3^4, 375, 39^-
423.
5akala-pratijakhya, 352.
Sunya, 92.
5vetambaras (Gainas, followers of
Parjvanatha), 141.
Tabernacle, maker of, 153.
Tagara, plant, 54.
Taittiriya-arawyaka, 96.
Tawhavagga, 334.
Tathagata, 254.
Tathagatas, are preachers, 276.
Ten evil states, 137.
Thirty-six passions, 359.
Thought, word, and deed, 96.
Thoughts, their influence, i.
Tirthankara, 104.
Tonsure, 264.
Trijara«a, 190.
Trividhadvara, thought, word, and
deed, 96.
Twin-verses, i.
Ukku/ika, see Utkamkasana, 141.
Uncreated (akata), 97.
Upadana, 20.
Upadhi, 418.
Upadhiviveka, 203.
Upama, aupamya, 129.
Upasarga, misfortune, 139.
tJrdhvawsrotas, 218.
Utka/ukasana, sitting on the hams,
141.
Vaha, horse, or vaha, wave, 339.
Vana, forest and lust, 283.
Vasish^/ja-Bharadvag-a-sutra, 396.
Vassika flower, 377.
Vassiki, flower, 55.
Vedana, sensation, 202.
Videha, king of, 200.
Vi_§-;7ana, knowledge, 202.
Vimoksha, freedom, 92, 93.
Vinaya-pi/aka, 28, 307.
Vishwu-sutra, 9.
Vijvabhu Tathagata, 49.
Viveka, separation, retirement, 7 5, 87,
Works, good, 220.
World, the next, 176.
— of the gods, 177.
Yama, 44, 45, 235.
Yama's messengers, 235.
Yamakavagga, i.
Ye dhamma, &c., 183.
Yellow dress, 9, 10, 307.
Yon'uab, truly, thoroughly, ^26.
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